Sunday, October 19, 2008

Candy - What Did You Eat As A Kid?


Now is the time of year when you see the aisles of your grocer stacked with bags of candy sold for Halloween. Imagine my frustration yesterday when I scoured the store looking for an old standby: candy corn. And the clerk who was stocking the candy aisles said, "Sorry we're all out."

His statement was one that could cut both ways: either they didn't stock it for quite some time or it was so popular that they sold out of it. All I wanted was a small bag for decorating Halloween cookies (I use them as eyes and teeth on big pumpkin cookies and as noses for the witches).

So today I was thinking about all the different types of candy I remember as a kid - a sure way to feel old. In fact, while in the store yesterday it seemed that there were only a handful of brands available (Hershey's, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, Twix, Kit-Kat, etc.) - nothing like what I remember at the corner store as a kid.

Chuck's was the closest "corner store" located about 2 blocks down the hill on Lake Street. It was quite sometime until my brother and I were allowed to walk there on our own where I grew up in Liberty, New York. The problem: one block down was Railroad Avenue which was more like a large paved area where the O&W Railroad used to run. In fact the train station had been converted into an Agway store (fuel, feed, farm equipment). With no striping, no lanes, etc. - it was scary just driving across it let alone two small boys walking across it.

The store was your typical convenience type store but it also had a lunch counter next door. This was where many of the workers at Livingston Manor Lumber Company would take their midday meal or others would just stop in for a cup of coffee and conversation. But for me, Chucks was the amazing candy aisle.

Of course you can guess that they had everything. I mean they had turkish taffy, burnt peanuts, Chuckles, Dots, Junior Mints, wax lips, bubble gum cigars and more.

So at the risk of turning this into a meme, if you have time this week, post about the various types of candy you remember as a kid. Also try to highlight the regional candies that others may not have heard of - I know that my Canadian colleagues will probably list Cadbury while my West Coast friends might remember Abba Zabba.

And if you need something to jog your memory, check out Candy You Ate As A Kid®.

3 comments:

Kathryn Lake Hogan said...

Greetings Thomas,
You know this going to turn into a meme. We, genea-bloggers just can't resist. Besides it's perfect for my Monday Memories post. BTW - I now have a craving for some candy!

wendy said...

Just what we need - a candy meme! This is going to be fun! Thanks for the link to the Candy we ate as a kid - can't wait to get nostalgic!

Anonymous said...

Not sure I'll have time to post about it-but wanted to comment. I loved those carmel globs on a stick-think they were called Sugar Daddys or Sugar Babies. Haven't had one in years-or even thought about it. So thanks for reminding me!