WHAT EVER HAPPENED???

“There was a candy store run by a little bald Jewish man named Sam. He was a kind soul who had a nasty wife, and the only reason people went to his candy store was because of him. He sold not only candy but egg-creams, mellow rolls made by Breyer’s Ice Cream Company, the NY Daily News, NY Daily Mirror, NY Times, NY Post, The Herald Tribune and Journal American in the days when there were morning, afternoon and even evening 'owl' editions. These papers sat outside his window on a newsstand, and if you went inside on your left was the magazines and more importantly comic books, booths that all ran parallel to the long counter which ended with the phone booth and candy case.”  (DelBloggolo, Thursday, October 10, 2013)

Tootsie Roll?

While perusing along on Facebook, I came upon a picture of a dog named ‘Tootsie-Roll. The name took me back in time and had me thinking. Whatever happened to all those great penny candies that a kid could buy. In those days the exposure to TV was on the incline as we found this new medium an alternative to the movies and better than reading the newspapers. The radio and newspapers were the only form of news until TV came along, and supplanted the radio.

But those candies, where did they go, do they still make them?

I always had a Tootsie roll in one pocket or another, and they were small enough for mom to miss them in the wash, and when I put on a clean pair of pants, there was that little surprise waiting for me! The wrapper may have been frayed or torn, lint surrounding it, but the candy stood up to the rigors of the ringer.

I recall those little dots of sugar that were aligned perfectly on a long strip of white paper, in different colors that you actually put to your mouth to get each of the candies, sometimes taking some of the backing off too!

Then as an alternate to Tootsie Rolls was Baby Jane, with that peanut butter flavor that could also withstand the wash. These were cheap inexpensive delights for a little kid with a few pennies.  Life was good.

On a hot Sunday afternoon, dad would give me a quarter I think and I would go to Sam’s for a Mello Roll, a package ice cream by Breyer’s Ice Cream Company that was wrapped in paper and you put it on a sugar cone, just like an ice cream cone. Sam had one other treat that sometimes I had on a summer night to refresh my soul and tongue, an egg-cream, made with soda and ice cream, without an egg, frothing at the top and washed down with great satisfaction that left you with a mustache that you looked at in his giant mirror, before swiping it with your sleeve!