Slices of life, both written and photographed.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Penny Candy, Come Get Your Penny Candy!


When I was a kid, one of the most thrilling things to do was get money, walk to a neighborhood store and buy penny candy.

The name of the little store that carried a great assortment of sweet snacks was Johnny Gorman's.

It was a good trek from our house, too, but I never minded that at all because of the yummy rewards in store.

The proprietor would hand us a small brown bag  and we'd tell him which of the selections behind the glass counter we wanted.

It was a difficult task, let me tell you.

My all time faves were "Squirrel Nuts."  They were waxed paper covered rectangles of ooey, gooie, chewy caramel with nuts in them.

There was a replica of a squirrel on the paper covers, too.

Oh, I shutter to think of what those candies did to our teeth.

The candy assortment shown in this post, available at the Berkshire Mountain Country Store in Lee, Massachusetts, made me think of those good old days.  

I didn't see any Squirrel Nuts, though.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY FROM CHILDHOOD?

10 comments:

diane.stetson said...

Oh I remember going to that store when I was little and was always so excited to pick out candy. I haven't a favorite though..any kind of chocolate is my favorite now...especially dark chocolate.

Red Rose Alley said...

Susan,
Oh how funny, I just recently did a post about PENNY CANDY! I went into this shop on one of our drives and found these bins of penny candy. It reminded me of growing up when I would walk to the local store and look around at all the penny candy. Those were the good 'ole days, and I think you had some of the same. We were thinking alike, my friend.

Love,
~Sheri

Chatty Crone said...

Oh my gosh - we have a penny candy store right around the corner from us. I remember being given a nickel and then having 5 pieces to pick! lol Such good memories! Sandie

Linda O'Connell said...

Funny, did you notice none of the candy was a penny and the cent signs were written backwards, probably by a kid helper. My favorite penny candy was Mary Janes which were as bad as squirrel nuts for teeth.

Nellie said...

What temptations! Well, I never had the experience of going into a store where penny candy was sold. Instead, my father would bring in bags of candy bars! He had already made the selection for me.:-) I know my favorite was a Milky Way, and I also know I ate more than I needed. The condition of my teeth through the years affirm that!:-(

marianne said...

Going to the store to buy penny candy is one of my favorite childhood memories; my husband too. We often talk about those long ago days and we always seem to remember treks to the corner store to buy candy pills, root beer barrels, mary janes and squirrel nuts, and of course "wax lips", just to name a few.

I wonder if there is any store anywhere that still has "penny candy"?

Unknown said...

Hello from Spain: I am addicted to candies and jellies. I like them all. I also visited when i was a girl a small candy store. Keep in touch

Bookie said...

Nice reminder to think of my own penny candy days. Remember candy cigarettes (a horror for today) and fat red waxy lips? I don't think kids today will get the thrill of walking to a store for penny candy even though they will have lots of sugar in their lives.

Merlesworld said...

Never ate candy or lollies much as a kid, always loved chocolate and cake.
Merle.......

Dee said...

I love squirrel nuts too. My teeth were much stronger then LOL I liked laffy taffy also. :) What a sweet post. :)

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