PENNY CANDY AND LIQUORICE CIGARS

My daughter called me today to tell me that, while in the city yesterday, she bought me some liquorice cigars – a WHOLE box of them!!! My mouth started watering immediately! They are hard to find now, the real ones, I mean. I’ve tasted some imitations in the past years, but the texture is not quite the same, nor is the strong pernod taste that my brother and I so loved (we both still do!) as when we were young’uns.

The general store was at least a 7 mile walk from the foster home where we did most of our growing up. On the rare occasion, during the summer months, our foster mom, or Grandma, would allow us to walk the long dirt road. Each of us jingling two dimes and a nickel in our pockets, we’d run one telephone pole, and then walk two, in an effort to reach our destination faster, chattering with excitement, shouting out what was on our potential goodie list. We’d calculate over and over just exactly how much we could get for the enormous sum of twenty-five cents, and change our minds many times over before the store came into view. Then there it was – that special, wonderful place!!

When we pushed on the wide, metal ‘Fanta’ bar, the bell above the door would jingle loudly, beckoning the owner from somewhere inside his house. He would smile down at us, his eyes jolly behind eternally smudged glasses. It had been a sweaty trip, so of course we would ask for our 10 cent bottles of pop first. He would deftly whip them out from the cooler, dripping with water, and use an old piece of towel to wipe them off before prying the tops with the opener inserted in the cooler’s side. The paper straws were inserted, and we’d suck on them slowly as we pondered the splendid candy assortment under the glass counter. Let’s see…chocolate covered gooey honeymoons; sugar-coated colourful gumdrops; humbugs and assorted hard candies; jawbreakers and Popeye’s candy cigarettes; jellybeans and gum, and little chocolate bars, those favoured liquorice cigars with the red sprinkles imitating fire on the ends…..

There were so many enticing sweets that all our careful planning flew right out of our heads! We’d usually decide to pool our money, and then share. We’d get lots more that way! The 30 cents we had left bought a 5 cent bag of chips (we would carefully count them out later), two of each different kind of candy (mostly 2 for a penny), a 7 cent bunch of lollipops (5 big round ones in the pack – pay dirt!!!), and, last but definitely not least, 2 liquorice cigars. We always wondered if the owner had ever been to school, because he sure couldn’t count. When he had done splitting the balance of 30 cents worth of candies into two small paper bags, he would often tell us “You can’t forget the ice-cream! Such a hot day it is!” then hand us each a 7 cent size with a large, cold, chocolate, creamy ball pushed firmly down into the crispy cones. We’d glance at each other silently, thank him profusely, then get out of there quickly!

The walk home was much slower of course. We were so busy chewing and savouring, and counting out those chips, LOL. The cigars were the best, so eaten last. Mmmm…that liquorice taste melting over the tongue and sliding down the throat and seeming to last forever!!

Uh-oh! It’s happening again...the mouth watering……

Well, here’s a big SMILE out to y’all! I think I’ll go visit my daughter now…..then maybe drop in on my brother….Ciao!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec