I know I said I was a woman of a certain age but now I guess I’m really going to date myself. Penny Candy! I remember a couple of small stores where my friends and I would go and buy penny candy. We’d spend quite a long time deciding just what sweet to buy because you just never knew when you would have another nickel or dime to splurge on candy. Taking a walk down nostalgia lane (that is the 50’s!) these are some of the toothsome delights I remember best; just like being in Candyland.
Bazooka Bubble gum – Soooooooo sweet your teeth hurt with the first chew. A good choice though, because for a penny, your treat lasted a long, long time – depending on how strong your jaw was as this pinky pink confection turned to a hardened rubbery plastic ball in your mouth. But wasn’t it fun snapping the gum and blowing enormous bubbles?
Smarties – These neat little cellophane rolls were great when you just wanted to pop one in your mouth and put it under your tongue. Best way to eat candy in a classroom! Multi-colored and not too too sweet, they were great for sharing and lasting.
School Smart Candy
Squirrels – short for Squirrel Nut Chocolate Caramel Chews; Now that’s a mouthful, literally and figuratively. There were a lot of flavors packed into those small 2 inch rectangles. They came wrapped in semi-opaque waxed paper and what you go was a sticky, gooey, chocolaty, stick-to-your-molars mouthful of taffy-like caramel with nuts too. Sometimes on Halloween, we’d end up with a bunch of Squirrels, Smarties and Bubble Gum at the bottom of our sacks. Not everybody gave out big candy bars in my neighborhood.
Atomic Fire Balls – OMG these things were HOT HOT HOT! So why did we eat them? Remember how your lips stung, your pink turned hot pink and by the time all the hot went away, you almost cracked a tooth trying to bite the now white ball into pieces? I understand they’re still around burning up the mouths of brave and foolish kids.
Mary Janes – Yummy molasses bite-size candies with a peanut butter filling. Now that I think about it , it’s possible these golden flavorful goodies started me on my peanut butter addiction! And if you thought Squirrels stuck to your teeth, well Mary Janes practically glued your upper and lower teeth together. Do you remember trying to talk without drooling when you had a Mary Jane in your mouth?
Mmmmmm Mary Janes!
Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
Pbenjay's Blog 
In college, we had a Xmas tree one year in our apartment. We had no money for decorations, so we hung Mary Janes and tinsel from the branches! Lovely! Not!
don’t forget the wax bottles filled with sweet sticky stuff.
That’s coming in the next five along with lips! and what did we get in paper envelopes that was like kool aid crystals?
my maternal grandfather had a corner grocery in Philadelphia and when we’d go to visit he’d let me fill little brown bags with my favorite “penny candies”!
of course my parents were not thrilled, and, on what seemed like a forever ride back to D.C., i’d open, count, redistribute, and nibble on my candies in those cute, tiny brown bags –and mary janes were a favorite–with my mom too!!
now, not only can i not find mary janes @ any price, i can’t find brown bags either!! and now that i think about it, it’s probably for the best as who knows what would “fall out” if i’d eat one!!
thanks for the memories!!
Kool Aid Crystals in an envelope? That sounds like “Fun Dip” (aka “Lik-M-Aid”).
YES that’s it Lik-A-Maid. Going to do another 5 – can you tell I’m dieting lol
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