Candy & the “Good ‘Ole Days!”

Generations ago, one of the delightful things about “childhood” was how much time we spent getting buzzed on candy. We walked to candy stores, or rode our bikes and returned to sit on the lawn or porch steps to enjoy our sugary treats. Sometimes it would be ritualized. There were certain methods to opening your liquid candy that was packaged in a wax-shaped bottle, otherwise known as Nik-L-Nips, or how to pour a Pixi Stix or making sure your Bonomo Taffy bar was hard enough to smash into dozens of pieces. Was it easier to bite or pull off the colorful Candy Buttons to remove them from the strip of white paper? Maybe you liked your Charleston Chews frozen and cracked. Or you had to separate your M&M’s by color. Candy was an adventure, an escape! It was a communal experience between kids. You could talk about your latest plans or school woes while you shared the tiny squares of your Hershey Chocolate Bar with a friend. And in your free time you’d plan your next candy trip and calculate what your $1.00 allowance could buy. Candy was both economics and freedom to a child! Gosh, I sure do miss those “Good ‘Ole Days!”