Buying candy was such a treat when I was growing up. I remember one of my friends found a whole dollar bill lying on the ground, and a group of us were going to go the local grocery store and split it four ways to buy a candy bar. I think my mom put the kibosh on that plan, and I never did get my candy bar.
One of the rare times we got to eat candy was when we were on vacation. Every summer, we drove to the shores of Lake Huron for a vacation with my extended family. My parents let us little kids tag along with the older cousins. After we were tired of playing on the beach, we would walk down the road from our cabin to the pink store, otherwise known as the gas station. We would amble down the country road, leggy kids with straight 70′s style hair, short shorts, knee socks and tennis shoes. The younger cousins would stand around the candy aisle first and carefully select the most candy we could buy with our tightly gripped, slightly sweaty coins. Then we would head to the back of the store to watch the older cousins play pinball. We would buy Charleston Chews, Jolly Ranger sticks and candy cigarettes with red tips. We pretended to smoke on the walk home. “Look, Mom and Dad, we’re smoking!” Weren’t we clever? Our parents would laugh, and then we would go to someone’s cabin to play games. My favorite candy of all was the vanilla Charleston Chew, which I would stick in the freezer and then bang it on the table to crack it.
Last week, I took my daughters to the Target dollar section. Right away, I spotted a pile of HUGE Charleston Chews! Lily decided to buy one with her dollar, and I told her if she did, she would have to share with ME! When we got home, Lily put her Charleston Chew in the freezer for a few hours. After dinner…
CRACK!
Yum!
What’s your favorite childhood candy?
