Oooooh....I liked the pixie sticks with the sugary stuff that fizzed. They were a penny. My Catholic school used to sell penny candy at recess....and malted milk balls were my favorite. Nothing was wrapped....nobody gave it a second thought. And those colored dots on paper....they were a hit too.
I remember when white bread went to 59 cents and my father said we'd have to cut back.
OMG! My Catholic school sold it, too!! I rarely got to buy anything, but I remember some weird watermelon shaped but coconut flavored candy on a strip of paper.
Linda, I also remember school lunches that cost about 35 cents.
In the early 60s when I was 7 or 8, my mother would sometimes send me to the bakery or grocery store alone--can't imagine parents doing that today! I remember buying bread (ca. 1962) for 27 cents/loaf.
My mom would send us to the neighborhood corner store with a quarter to buy a loaf of bread. We got to spend the change on penny candy (about 3 cents).
When I first started teaching I would buy a school lunch (so tasty and homemade) and then had money left over to buy a bottle of pop later in the day. Total spent:$1.00.
I don’t really recall specific food prices growing up except maybe bread at 25-35 cents per loaf, but I clearly remember going to the grocery store in my early 20’s and for $12 carrying out 4 or 5 paper bags of food/grocery items.
We would visit my Grandma every summer in Minnesota. She would save her change all year for us. I loved sitting on her living room floor and dividing the money between my siblings. Then we would go to the corner store to buy the penny candy. I have no idea what I bought but I remember the little bags.
This is one of my favorite memories. I’m positive that this is how I learned to count money and why I always loved teaching how to count coins to my second graders.
One time I was visiting my grandparents in Dallas. I was probably under ten years old so think pre 1966. We went to the grocery store to pick up a few items. As we picked up our last item, bread, my grandfather started complaining about the price of 25 cents.
I remember thinking what was the big deal about a quarter for a loaf of bread. My grandfather who I adored kept grumping about the price and I got embarrassed as we walked toward the cashier line. I did not want others to hear him complaining.
Then he said it was only gum waden bread. I was not sure what that meant. But later I discovered it was because it was white bread and not whole wheat. I guess he preferred whole wheat because it had more texture.
He would probably have a heart attack if he saw the prices of bread today.
As a child I remember bread that was a quarter (and there was great concern at one point about horrible inflation and the worry that bread would be a dollar!!) and donuts (from the Helms truck!) were a nickel. I bought a school lunch for a quarter, six cents extra for milk. McDonalds was 15 cents for a burger and a dime each for fries and drink (we had to have milk or very occasionally a milkshake, no soda for us as kids )
My votes are for grape pixisticks, jujubes and bazooka bubblegum which was a penny apiece at our grocery store.
My mom used to give us a quarter to get into a double feature movie on Saturday and a dime to spend on candy. We always bought Jujubes and threw handfuls at the screen when the movie started. Did anyone else throw candy at movies?
would plan meals for five on a dollar a day budget. When we were kids, every Sunday after church we would stop at a little store and we would each get a dime for candy. So exciting!
I also remember Jiffy corn bread mix six for a dollar.
I remember the penny candy. I loved going to the little neighborhood store with my dad - he would let me get a quarters worth of penny candy. The older man who ran the store would give me a little paper bag and I would choose the candies and put them in the bag, carefully counting to 25. I felt like I had tons of candy - 25 assorted pieces! Thinking back, the man didn't even check to make sure I had the right amount - he just rang it up with my dad's other purchases.
Life is so different now! I'm sitting here thinking that I should start writing down some of these memories for my grandkids.
I just thought of another memory - that little store was still in business when my kids were small. I stopped there one day when my daughter was about 3 years old to pick up some milk. On the way home, I noticed she was eating something. It was one of those little foil wrapped chocolate footballs from the penny candy shelf (does anyone remember those?). She had picked up two of them and I had not noticed. I explained to her about paying / stealing and we went back and paid for them.
I remember a loaf of bread for 19 cents, and lots of different penny candy. Black balls (little jaw breaker type candies) were 3 for a penny. Mojos (chewy candy) were 2 for a penny. Everything else was between 1 and 5 cents. One time I was given 25 cents for buying cigarettes for a neighbour (and I was definitely under 9 years old) and I spent the whole quarter on candy. I had to hide the bag from my mom!
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01-25-2021, 06:26 PM
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