New Seniors

As a kid, I couldn’t wait to get a few pennies together to spend at the corner candy store across from my elementary school. I suspect most of us born between 1930 and 1945 have fond memories of moments like this. Let’s wander back to those innocent times and see if you can remember any of these candies.

The sound of the tinkling bell when opening the front door of the store announced your arrival, in warm weather it was the slamming of the screen door. There was a distinct smell to the place, a blending of aromas, that is difficult to describe but unique to stores like this. It was an enticing greeting that invited you to the glass case where the loose candy was displayed.

A quick survey of the goodies inside revealed an array of some of the most popular candies of the time. There were several kinds of fudge, some homemade, cut into neat little squares. Next to this sat the tiny tin pie plates filled with a fudge-like substance which you ate with a little tin spoon. Jellied candies, topped with granulated sugar, were arranged on several different trays, one each for spearmint leaves, orange and lemon slices, and licorice babies.

There were other licorice items too: shoe laces, twists, bite size bits, and solid ropes – boys liked these because we pretended they were cigars until it was time to eat them. And don’t forget the wax products: teeth, lips, moustaches, even ocarinas/harmonics you could play a tune on before chewing on the flavored wax. And, of course, there were little soda or pop bottle, a couple of inches long, that contained a sweet red or green liquid which was consumed in a wink before the bottle ended up in your mouth.

How about the candy dots on a strip of paper? These multi-colored solidified drips of sugar hung on a hook behind the counter. You had a tough time removing the dots from the paper, so after popping them into your mouth it was necessary to spite out the tiny balls of paper somewhere along the way home.

Individually wrapped candies were displayed in glass bowls. Tootsie rolls, Mary Jane’s, taffies, lollypops, and bubble gum (except during WWII). Candy cigarettes were also available and kids tended to buy the brand their dad’s smoked; because in those days it seemed as if every man smoked, and a lot of women did too.

If you were lucky enough to have a nickel, there was virtually nothing you couldn’t buy. There were Juicy Fruits, Good & Plenty’s, Mason Dots or Black Crows, Goobers and Raisinettes, Hershey bars, Bonamo Turkish Taffy, and Juju Beads (they tasted like soap but lasted a long time), to name a few favorites..

No matter how much money you had, it didn’t cost a lot to satisfy your sweet tooth in those days. Come to think of it, we didn’t need much of anything to be happy back then. Times have changed, but we can remember how sweet it was.

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