Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Sweet Shop

We stopped into a specialty candy store the other day. There, to my surprise, were goodies that I grew up with in England. Treats that I rarely ever got to actually eat. But I remember drooling over and dreaming of buying. Our weekly pocket money of tuppence (equivalent to almost 5cents). didn't go far. Our Saturday mornings, we would get our bedrooms tidied and when they passed inspection, each of us four girls would walk over to the sweet shop with our tuppence safely hidden in our shoes. Spending tuppence took alot of planning and tough decision making. There was a selection of several tastey items to be bought for half a penny. In England, they actually had a halfpenny coin. We four girls would spend all morning deciding what to buy. Usually, quantity reigned over quality. We would buy the most that our money allowed. Every week we debated whether to combine our money and splash out on a bar of chocolate. But I don't recall that ever actually happening. I would end up with some liquorice, a white chocolate mouse, a gob stopper and a fizzy lollipop, those pressed powdered kind with one colour on the top and a different colour on the bottom. I dreamed of having a CURLYWURLY, a braided caramel, coated in chocolate. I think I got one at Christmas one year. When the decisions were final and it came time to take our purchases to the shopkeeper, we would all sit down on the floor, pull of the shoe and shake out the coins. I wonder now if that gave the shop keeper a chuckle?


The walk home was always a lot slower than the walk there. It takes intense concentration to walk and lick a lolly at the same time. I was nine when we moved from there. My sisters were all younger. What a sight, to see four little girls walking along with their treats.

I bought a liquorice stick and savored the taste and the memories. As we strolled along the street, I was taken back to those days. I wonder if my sisters remember.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that was a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed that. Ya know I think I must have some of those half cents around here because lots of people have told me I only have half my sense.

Walker said...

We have one of those candy stores not to far from here and they hodl lots of sweet memories and cavities from when I was a kid, but I have to say they are a little more expensive sinse I was a kid.
Great post down memory lane

Jo said...

What a nice story. And what cute little girls. I lUV licorice sticks. We have a store like that in Kits, and they sell ice cream too.

Cheers,
Josie

Anonymous said...

I remember similar days, only with us.. it was three sisters. Our favourite candy picks included black liquorice pipes and jaw breakers. We also used to enjoy candy cigarettes.. can you believe that. They even came in their only little cigarette pack. And what about those big red rubber lips. So much fun it was!!

Dina said...

Love the photo of the girls you where all so cute!!!! WEll done and great post and story too.

Susan said...

Josie,
This was in kits, I think. On fourth avenue. We love it down there.

Bobbie said...

What a cute picture of you and your sisters. Back in the olden days when I was little, it was amazing how much stuff you could buy for a nickle. And no tax too!

Anonymous said...

You took me back, Susan. We were lucky enough to get a whole nickel once in awhile. You could buy 3 candies for a penny. If you spent your whole nickel, you could buy a pack of Thrills, purple candy coated chicklets. We would also buy candy cigarettes, made of gum and rolled in paper with powder that made puffs of smoke the first few times you blew on it.
I am very envious of you and your three sisters. I wanted a sister more than anything when I was growing up. You girls are adorable.

Canadian flake said...

awww this takes me back...except for me and my sister it was sweet tarts we would buy...and candy cigarettes with popeye on the box..lmao

Leslie: said...

I remember those days, too. Do you remember "rock candy?" They were so much fun to eat! And my own daughters loved (and still DO) those long candy sticks, saying it takes THEM back to their own childhood. :D

Unknown said...

How wonderful, Susan! After a baseball game, we kids would walk through a series of backyards and a Plant Nursery to a drug store for candy,then next door toacoin laundry foruse of their soda machine. Then we'dsit outside onthe sidewalk curb talking about our game! Thanks for bringing back such memories!

Jo said...

Susan, I thought I recognized the store. You and I are going to run into each other one of these days... :-)

Josie

Outhouse Capital of Canada said...

When I was a kid, the store had a "Penny Tray" and the selection was made from that tray.

deni said...

You just brought back some memories of my own.

Penny candy, swedish fish, rootbeer barrels, tootsie pops, and of course licorice. You could buy a lot of candy for a quarter in the 60's and 70's.

Vickie said...

Thank you for sharing these special memories with us. You are no only a photographer but also a writer. You are talented---I felt as if I were there as I read this post---and I also had time for my own memory walk.

Take care of you and enjoy life.

sharon said...

First of all, I didn't know you spent your first 9 years in England! do you still have a bit of an accent? I know this sounds stupid, but I like you even more now than I did before! LOL! Ever since I started watching Coronation street years ago, I have a secret love for the English. I TOLD you it was gonna sound stupid! tee hee!
Second, I think you sparked memories for everyone who reads your blog. I don't know anyone who hasn't stood there at the candy counter carefully calculating how much candy one could buy with the coins in their shoe!
BTW Loved Curtis' comment...he's such a card.

Unknown said...

Everyone is thinking back to their youth. Recalling nostalgic feelings. Each one of us seems to have good memories to their childhood, a time in which we were satisfied with a nickle, a tupence or in Dutch a "stuiver". It's amazing to see how many reactions you got on this post. Thank you for the good memories and in a way I have the same thoughts about the English as Sharon has, because I have been in many places there when I was much younger.

"M2" said...

First, thanks for the sweet comment today.

Funny... being from Canada and living in the states for 20 years
I can't get enough Canadian candy.
Every year I get Eat Mores, Coffee Crisps, and Cherry Blossoms sent to me. Though the family is now claiming to have trouble locating the blossoms...uggg

I actually found a coffee crisp here one day in a vending machine.
I was a crazed woman... the joy... and I did come home to post about it... after scarfing it down in a gulp.

Maureen said...

Great story.... reminds me of buying penny candy when I was young too....