Picture a jolly man flying through the skies to make holiday wishes come true. If you’re imagining Santa Claus, you’re not far off — except this version piloted a Cessna 425, had his wife in the copilot seat, and carried candy box samples instead of presents.
Jesse L. Salwen ’60 isn’t Santa. But for decades, he was the king of Valentine’s Day, and behind the joy was a serious business.
Candy makers across the United States and Canada relied on Salwen for nearly half of the heart-shaped chocolate boxes produced for the holiday. Often with his wife, Marty, by his side, he traveled to meet with leaders at companies like Hershey, Godiva, and Lindt, arriving with meticulously crafted samples. At its peak, his company, A. Klein, produced more than 12 million boxes a year.
Salwen still takes delight — and more than a little humor — in telling his story, one that stretches far beyond heart-shaped boxes.
From Brooklyn to Bethlehem
Salwen’s family moved from Brooklyn to Mount Vernon, New York, before landing in suburban Philadelphia. After studying at William Penn Charter School, Salwen arrived at Lehigh to study engineering.
Mentored by Professor Wally Richardson, a former World War II submarine skipper, Salwen developed the work ethic that would define his life. “I worked hard to get my degree,” he says.
It didn’t come easy for him, but he retains his signature sense of humor when reflecting on that time. “Please don’t look up my grades, because it will spoil this story,” he laughs, before adding, “I never failed a course, though.”
Missiles and Matrimony
After graduating in 1960, Salwen joined the U.S. Navy. Thanks to his engineering degree, he was selected for nuclear weapons training and assigned to the Polaris Missile Facility Atlantic in Charleston, South Carolina. There, he handled and assembled nuclear warheads destined for submarine deployment, the first of their kind.
It was high-stakes, high-pressure work.
“I had tremendous responsibility but no authority,” Salwen laughs.
Married to Marty and building a family with the birth of their children, Cynthia and Barry, Salwen soon faced a choice: continue the naval career that could take him away for months at a time or build a life closer to home.
He chose home.
The King of Heart Boxes
After a brief stint in industry, Salwen returned to the family paper business and eventually became co-owner and president of A. Klein, a company specializing in candy packaging.
The heart-shaped boxes were synonymous with Valentine’s Day. Each was elaborate, featuring custom fabric, ribbon, gold stamping, and layered cardboard construction. Some were decorated with artificial flowers, while others were designed to look like tuxedos or golf shirts. Many people cherished the ornate boxes for years after the chocolates were gone.
Customers wanted to meet the person behind the product, someone who would ensure the boxes for the biggest sales season of the year were delivered without a hitch. So Salwen took to the skies, meeting and reassuring company presidents.
With Marty, he built a business and shared a life of adventure. Every Valentine’s Day, his own gift to Marty came in a custom-designed box, filled with handmade chocolates. It was, in many ways, the perfect symbol: a business built on love and a life that reflected it.
The End of an Era
After 45 years, lower-cost overseas competition made it impossible to sustain the business. Salwen made the difficult decision to close the company.
“To be honest, I got through that time badly,” he says with a grin and his characteristic good humor.
What stands out most from that period isn’t just the loss, but the loyalty. Many of his employees stayed until the very end.
Salwen, true to form, didn’t stand still for long.
Have Camera, Will Travel
His next chapter focused on his lifelong interest in photography, first sparked in a darkroom when he was a child. Embracing digital photography in the early 2000s, Salwen launched a new business and achieved Nikon professional status.
He and Marty traveled the world, visiting every continent and capturing millions of images along the way.
Each destination, Marty says, has its own personality. But the biggest personality belongs to the man with whom she shares a life, a plane, and more than 66 Valentine’s Days.
The adventures are still in motion. Salwen’s planning the next trip — Costa Rica — for this summer.
Still Moving
Whether Salwen is working as an engineer, naval officer, business owner, pilot, or photographer, his philosophy remains the same: show up, work hard, and keep going.
“My advice,” he says, “is to work hard at what you do, even if it’s not what you want to do forever. Don’t slide.”
Today, on the farm he and Marty have called home for more than 40 years, Salwen is still moving, still learning, still exploring, and still finding joy in what comes next.
After all, you don’t spend a lifetime making heart-shaped boxes without learning something about how to live with passion.
“It was a fun ride,” he says.
And he’s not done yet.
In This Image: An osprey brings home dinner at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, where Jesse and Marty have spent years boating, photographing wildlife, and planning their next adventure.
In This Image: “This is my selfie,” Jesse jokes of a curious lemur photographed during a 2025 trip to Madagascar.
In This Image: A polar bear cub pauses for Jesse’s camera in Svalbard, Norway, during a 2019 expedition.
In This Image: Jesse shares a quiet moment with an orangutan in Borneo, Malaysia, during a 2023 wildlife photography trip.
In This Image: Two bald eagles sit together in a Yellowstone snowfall, one of countless wildlife moments Jesse has captured through the years.
In This Image: A tiger on the prowl in India, photographed by Jesse during a 2018 trip.
In This Image: Two male lions relax in the African sun during a 2017 safari.
