Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Penny Candy Heaven


As a kid, do you remember loving penny candy?

It was so exciting to have a nickel in one's hand and head for the candy counter of a neighborhood store. Selecting the candies to be put into a brown paper bag was serious business. It took a lot of concentration.

My absolute favorites were rectangular shaped chewing confections called "Squirrel Nuts."  They came wrapped in waxed paper that had, sure enough, a picture of a little squirrel on the front.

They had little chunks of nuts in them and were so sticky, sometimes we couldn't even open our mouths when they were melting inside. They were almost guaranteed to pry up tooth fillings.

We used to walk to a neighborhood store called "Johnny Gorman's" to buy penny candy. Excursions there were pretty doggone exciting.


Johnny Gorman's is long gone now and childhood days seem like eons ago. But man, the thought of eating a Squirrel Nut again is pleasant to contemplate.

By the way, the penny candy displays shown in this post came from the Berkshire Mountain Country Store in Western Massachusetts.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PENNY CANDY?

16 comments:

Susan said...

Hello Everyone!

I would like to welcome Michael Lounsbury as a Follower this blog!

Michael is a young man who has his own blog,too. He's a talented artist who comes from a very artistic family.

His blog is Michael's Medley (http://michaelsmedley.blogspot.com/)

If you go to visit him, tell him you read about him here, okay? Thanks.

Welcome, Michael! Come back to visit any time. Say "hi" to your Mom and Dad, too.

Have a great day. Sincerely, Susan

Sanghamitra Bhattacherjee(Mukherjee) said...

Beautiful fall post Susan:)

Linda O'Connell said...

When I was eleven I was in charge of a penny candy counter at a confectionary after school from 3:30 -4 when the kids who exited the bus came in. I then got paid in penny candy and in those days you could get lots of two-for a penny candy. I liked Mary Janes. I also loved Mr.Goodbar, but they cost a nickel. They had a peanut candy bar for three pennies called a Lunch Bar, but the chocolate was'nt as good and the peanuts were more finely ground. Thaks for the memories. Look at those prices now.

Dianne said...

Hmmm... favorite candy... caramels! I'm one of those strange people that would rather have caramel and vanilla than chocolate!

Susan said...

Welcome to Gaia, this blog's 249th Follower. Her blog is
http://leparolesilenziose.blogspot.com/

Welcome! and stop by often. Chao!

Unknown said...

I love the bit o honey ones! I also loved the real a&w root beer barrels. Everytime I try to comment on your blog, it will not let me. I tried and tried to post a while back on some dishes you posted. I hope this works!

Unknown said...

IT WORKED!!!!!!! LOLOL

Veronica said...

I remember "Squirrel Nuts"...used to get them from Mrs. Murray's little store down in South Carolina where I was born and lived for the first 18 years of my life. Also used to buy "BB Bats" which were flavored hard taffy on a stick, had baseball players on the wrapper. And also the tri-colored coconut bars...wow you've broguth back so many great memories. Love your blog BTW!
Veronica

Veronica said...

Sorry for the typo...I meant *brought back!
lol

Chatty Crone said...

Oh my gosh - I remember our candy store right around the corner - I'd bring a nickel and and have a field.

I liked the red thin licorice wrapped round and round and in the middle a small yellow ball!

Do you remember those?

Thanks for the memories.

Love, sandie

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Love Bit-o-Honey's. Chipped my tooth on a root beer barrel candy from Cracker Barrel last summer. :/ We bought a bunch of candy from there and then I regretted it! :) Time to hit the hay here! Goodnite. Tammy

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

Fun post!! My favorite penny candy use to be Mint Juleps.

The Old Parsonage said...

Ahh the memories... I liked the red swedish fish.

This looks like a great store to visit!

Enjoy your evening!
Leann

Susan said...

Welcome to Tere Serna. Originally from Chile, she lives in Quebec. This is her blog address:http://tere-serna.blogspot.com/

Bienvenidos Tere! Her blog is "My Ventana." In Spanish, that means "My Window."

Thanks for following and welcome!

So happy there are now 250 Followers of Writing Straight from the Heart!

beauty said...

This blog always create some informational and amazing things, which add in my knowledge and experience.But I am a bit confuse. Thanks for sharing.Waiting for next post.

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing this post. It brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. I own a convenience store now and my candy displays look very different than the pictures on your site. The times certainly have changed.

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