Késsinnimek - Roots - RacinesA Penny For Your Thoughts
by
Louise Dubrule
by
Louise Dubrule
I've read everything in every issue and I marvel at the complexity and seriousness of so many articles. These are people who have something important to say. These days, I feel fortunate to remember my own name and where I've left the car in the hospital parking lot. I guess I'll be content to be the "comic relief" in each issue. Someone has to be...that's my job!
It seems as though some institutions persisted longer in our little corner of Vermont. Thanks to that, a penny was actually worth something when I was a child. We had penny candy.
Our little neighborhood grocery store had a glass-fronted case that bore countless nose and hand prints left by the youngsters who pondered their choices. We were fortunate that there was a state-sponsored bottle redemption program, and an hour of walking the side roads produced enough loot to give anyone a real sugar high.
The candies lay on wax-paper covered trays without benefit of wrappings. Did the health department worry about this? When our selections were put into the little brown paper bags, the clerk didn’t use plastic gloves or paper sheets to pick up the pieces, either. The old saying was that you had to eat a peck of dirt before you died.
But how to choose? If chocolate was your passion, you could have domed bon bons filled with mild vanilla cream, or the non-pariels covered with tiny white sprinkles. The old fashioned favorites were there: licorice whips and small lollipops with looped paper handles. You could try root beer barrels, sour balls, jaw breakers, or gum drops. The big gum drops were a penny; the small ones were three for a penny and they were more spicy (like cloves) than fruit-flavored. Little tiny sugar babies were three for a penny, too, as were a confection called “chicken legs”. These were baguettes of crispy shell filled with peanut butter and sprinkled with coconut. Small B-B Bats came in chocolate, strawberry, and banana. The chewy nougat was surprisingly long-lasting so they were a bargain at two for a nickel.
There were some things which I avoided: strips of paper with dots of candy seemingly glued in rows, and stiff marshmallow circus peanuts which reeked of fake banana flavor. We learned the hard way that those bright red wax lips were fun for about five minutes but they had no taste. The same held true for little wax soft drink bottles that were supposed to have sweet water inside. Once you bit off the top and tipped out the contents, you had maybe five drops on your tongue for reward.
The best penny candies were on top of the counter, safely enclosed in glass jars with covers. Here you found the sugar-covered orange slices that made your mouth sing with tartness. Here, too, were the maple frosted lumps of walnuts and hard toffee. (Did they have a real name?) Yet another jar held peppermint sticks…and nobody wanted one that was broken or chipped.
Also on the top was the display of gum that cost five cents: Spearmint, Doublemint, Dentyne, Juicy Fruit, Black Jack (guaranteed to turn your teeth and tongue black temporarily), and Teaberry. The boxes of chiclets were fun because after the gum was gone, the box was fine noise maker when you stripped off the cellophane and blew into the open end.
Once in a while we felt rich enough to spring for a real candy bar for the munificent sum of five cents. Many of the names are familiar today: Hershey (with and without almonds), Baby Ruth (which had nothing to do with the baseball great Babe Ruth), Butterfinger, Snickers, Milky Way, Mars, 3 Musketeers, and Clark. If you were avoiding chocolate, you could get a Pay Day or a Bit o Honey.
Movie favorites were Mounds, Almond Joy, or Turkish Delight. This one was sold only at Martin’s Barber Shop, and the white nougat with sliced almonds was good enough for the entire Saturday afternoon double feature. Talk about getting your money’s worth! Other theater offerings included Jr. Mints, Necco Wafers, Red Hots, Jujy Fruits (sure to pull out a filling or two), Tootsie Rolls, or the ever popular Cracker Jacks with desirable prizes
Oh yes, I had favorites that even today evoke special memories. The 7-up bar was equal to having seven choice chocolates in one bar, each filling separated from its neighbor yet all part of a whole. For a while, we got a candy bar that had liquid butterscotch in its center; sadly, it disappeared from the market as quickly as it appeared. The York peppermint patty had cool mint enveloped in deep, dark chocolate. Still, nothing compared to the York wintergreen patty: the same dark chocolate, but the middle was pink wintergreen cream. With judicious nibbling in concentric circles, I could make one last all the way back to school after eating lunch at home.
Mama didn’t buy candy except for holidays. Easter meant jelly beans and chocolate bunnies, Halloween brought out candy corn, and Christmas called for the assorted hard candies and razor-thin ribbon candy that Mama saved to pass around when company came. The rest of the year we had maple sugar squares that Mama made by boiling the spring syrup to the right dripping point.
If we got sugar highs from the store-bought stuff, we ran it off during our outdoor play. The one and only town dentist didn’t complain about the business that penny candy brought him. The candy displays in the supermarket today offer a mind-boggling variety, just as the cereal aisles do. All this wealth of choices makes my memories of penny candy just that much sweeter.
Késsinnimek - Roots - Racines
Copyright © 2003 & 2004 & 2005 & 2006 Norm Léveillée
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Created 1 Feb 2003