One of my favorite memories is of taking the bus up to the end of the line, and then walking quite a ways beyond that, to get to the public pool way down the other end of the city where I lived. Obviously, since it was up North, that only happened in the Summers. There was a penny candy store by the bus barn, and we'd always stop there on the way back from the pool, before we got on the bus to go home. There were candies at that store that I didn't see elsewhere, and some I haven't seen since. I Candy buttons have always been a top favorite of mine. I pretty much buy them whenever i see them, and immediately eat them. Another favorite is Necco wafters. Necco (http://www.necco.com/about.aspx) was based in the next town over. As a matter of fact, several candy companies were close to my home, which is maybe why I have such a sweet tooth. My grandmother lived down the street from the Schrafft's factory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrafft's), and when they were young, my aunts and uncles worked there. I don't know why I loved the flying saucers (apparently they're called satellite wafers) so much, but it might have had something to do with the fact that the texture was very similar to the host (communion wafers at church), except the candy was sweet, and had tiny candy balls inside. Sky bars were one of my favorite candy bars when I was young. Probably seeing the billboards and the factories themselves helped promote the desire for the candies. Back then, there wasn't much need to advertise on TV. I just ate a whole pack of Necco wafers, I bought them earlier at Dollar Tree. What's your favorite penny candy? Do you still buy them today?
Guess what........ I grew up in a penny candy store ! Well, not quite; but when I was little, my folks had a small community grocery store, and of course, there was a candy counter that had several shelves of penny candy. All of the neighborhood kids envied me, with all of that candy right there all of the time; but the truth was, I didn't really care about the candy, and have never cared about it for most of my life. My mom had a rule, and that was that I could have all of the candy that I wanted, once I had eaten my meal. If I wanted any candy, it was usually malt balls, and I loved the taste of the malt. I imagine that I had my share of candy as a child; but since it was there all day every day, it just was not anything special to me. My favorite treat to eat was salted sunflower seeds, and they came in little bags and were in the shells. I would eat those while reading a book, and actually developed a habit of reading and eating sunflower seeds, and continued that even as an adult. The candy bar that I most liked was Peter Paul Mounds, because I like the dark chocolate much better than milk chocolate. I also liked one called a U-NO bar, which had creamy malt in the center. Now, we don't even buy candy for Halloween because then we would have to deal with leftover candy bars.
My favorite penny candy which of course costs about 5 cents now, were the atomic cinnamon balls, the red hots. I still like those, even though they aren't as common today, I know Crackerbarrel sells them, as they have a lot of old fashioned candies. I think a jar of them a small jar is maybe 3.95. I tried other penny candies when I was a kid..but not big on taffy or tootsie rolls, I became too sophisticated for lollies after about 6 but the red hots I enjoyed.
Yes, @Joe Riley , I used to pass Necco daily on my way to work, and would pass Schrafft's and some other candy and chocolate companies/factories frequently. I can remember the smell from of chocolate emanating from Schrafft's, it was tantalizing. My aunts and uncles would often bring home boxes of 'seconds', the imperfect chocolates that sold for much less than the first tier candies. I loved growing up along all of the history in New England. @K E Gordon Atomic fireballs and red hots are also favorites of mine, along with Boston Baked Beans.
I always loved getting to the bottom of my Easter baskets, @Ike Willis. The jelly beans were usually heavier than the other candy, and would always end up at the bottom of the baskets. Black jelly beans are one of my favorites. That's something I had in common with my dad. He always loved licorice, fennel, and anise, and I do, as well. Nowadays, I always think of him when I encounter those flavors. Which color/flavor is your favorite?
(re-posting this) Somewhere along the line, I learned that NECCO stood for "New England Candy Company". They were a favorite of mine, as well! The long Necco Wafers machine in the lead photo appears to be on a late-1920s Dodge Brothers truck chassis? The famous pastel-colored candy wafers originate way back to 1847 in Boston, MA were Oliver R. Chase invented and patented his lozenge cutter to help produce them.
I used to eat 'em by color. White, then purple, pink, red, green, yellow, orange and finally my favorite, black. Still do that.
Yeah, Boston Baked Beans are still pretty cheap. There is a store near here that I think still sells them for about 25 cents a box. I wonder if there are any stores in the US that still sell penny candy for a penny. I would be shocked if I found one. Even like those little pieces of Bazooka bubble gum are like 2 to 5 cents per piece now.
I tend to sort mine out that way too, @Ike Willis. Red are good, and I also like pink and purple. To be honest, I like most of them, but black is definitely my favorite. I haven't had any in a while, so it might be time to think about buying some. One of my favorite local restaurants has some candy dispensers by the register @K E Gordon, and one of them dispenses Boston Baked Beans. I also try to keep at least a few quarters on hand when I'm planning to go there, so I can fill my pocket with some, although they never make it home, because it doesn't take me long to polish them off. Another favorite to this day, is candy cigarettes. I haven't had them in a while, but I bought some and used them as a substitute when I was quitting smoking.
When I first moved here into the boonies, I was surprised they were still selling candy cigarettes. They wouldn't do that near the city, but out here in the country it is a different story. When it comes to the old fashioned jellybeans, black is the only way to go in my opinion. FYI in case you didn't know, Ike and Diane Lane they do sell Necco wafers at Dollar General and they are not super expensive. What about movie candy? Do you have any favorites there? OF course I never buy it now...but remember when they used to have Junion Mints and non pareils or Sno caps? I have to say in terms of jelly beans, I like the new spicy ones, and jelly bellies. I will always have a spot in my heart for black though.
I think I mentioned before, when my dad was teaching me to shoot, he would buy a bag full of cheap hard candy, to use as targets. Dad explained that when hit, hard candy blows apart like a glass bottle would. But, we're not leaving broken glass around. Candy dissolves in the rain, or the insects eat it.
That is interesting. I never heard of that before. Yeah, I would suspect the candy would be much more eco friendly than glass bottles. Hard candy is small though. That must have been hard to hit. My uncle showed me how to shoot a gun once, when I was young, but I don't remember anything about it now. I am scared of guns.
I still like Necco wafers. I don't know that they were my favorite but I can't think of any others. I wasn't much of a candy eater as a kid. I would eat it when dad brought candy home or when it was around but that's not what I'd spend my own money on. Oh, it's not that I spent my money more responsibly. I just preferred Blackjack gum to candy. I still like that, too. It's still available, but not in most stores, as it once was.
I actually don't remember any penny candy. Maybe kits. I do remember scrounging pop bottles and selling them for a few cents.