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.