 Candy Buttons memories... Candy buttons on
the paper card were always a treat for those of us who liked to play
"hospital." If I somehow got some of them, I would round up a couple
other children - someone always had one of those little plastic
"doctor's bags" that contained a play stethoscope, a headband with a
funny mirror, and a pretend syringe. We'd stuff the candy buttons in
the bag, and the doctor would make rounds. Sometimes, we would get a roll of toilet paper to make
pretend bandages around an arm or leg. The doctor would dispense pills
of the various colors depending on the severity of the patient's pain.
Red pills were for one thing, yellow for something else. Sometimes,
the doctor would need to pop a pill or two, also. Rounds were made
until the candy was gone - then we'd move on to some other game. ~
Annette from Maryland
A few years ago, I was vacationing
with my family in Southampton, NY and found out that there was a
'penny candy' store a short drive away. When I told my three kids
where we were going, I think that I was the most excited one of the
bunch. From the outside, the store appeared to be the genuine deal.
Once inside, I was thrilled to see an old candy case, with brown paper
bags to fill with an assortment of old fashioned candy. A flood of
memories came back, especially one in particular.
For several summers when I was a kid, my sister and I
would go away to summer camp in the Berkshires. On the day before we
left for camp, my parents would give each of us $1.00 to spend on
candy at the penny candy store. We didn't care that the walk was long
because we were on a very important mission. My sister and I would
labor over our selections and always made sure that we included a few
strips of the candy buttons on paper. It always seemed with the candy
buttons that we were getting a lot of candy for a penny. I remember
that the trick to eating the buttons off of the paper, was to try to
get them off without pulling the paper with the candy. We would also
try to guess the colors, but we never managed to get it right. We would fill our bags with 100 pieces of candy and
gladly hand over our $1.00. The candy was supposed to last a few weeks
at camp but inevitably we managed to eat half the bag by the second
day of camp.
Well, my kids and I made a very good dent in the candy supply at the
present day 'penny candy' store and as expected, the total bill was
quite a bit more than $1.00. The store sign should have read, '$10.00
penny candy store'. We sat outside on a bench and I happily ate the
candy buttons, leaving all of the paper behind. ~ Nancy from
Connecticut
When I was a little girl, my grandmother (now deceased) used to let my sister and I load as many coke
bottles as we could into a red wagon, which we pulled to the corner drugstore to buy penny candy. I always got as many strips of Candy
Buttons as I could! I loved to bite the colorful buttons off the paper and I still do!
I recently discovered a local store that sells them, so I'll buy a package and hide them from my
daughter! Mine, mine, mine! Not only do they still taste good to me, they also bring back a wonderful memory of my grandmother laughing
happily while my sister and I carefully piled those coke bottles as high as we could into the little wagon, so we could redeem them for
candy money! ~ Debbie from Florida
Candy
Buttons memories >>> |
