AT HOME WITH KAYLA PRICE 10/7: Candy

A favorite childhood memory is of being at my grandmother’s house.  She always had a small dish of candies from which we could select a piece.  They weren’t just any candies; they were Brach’s.

Recently I had a hankering for a cinnamon candy disk.  After looking around for some, I found that Brach’s still makes them and offers them in small, prepackaged bags for sale at local stores.

Grandma had the usual flavors of peppermints, butterscotch, cinnamon, Neapolitan coconuts, cream filled chocolate rolls, caramels, jelly nougats, and chocolate covered creams.  My favorites were the peppermints and the cream filled chocolate rolls.  Later, I started liking the jelly nougats.  I would pull the less desirable jellies out and eat them first.  Then I would enjoy the white nougat part.

Back then, Brach’s had a display at the grocery store so that a customer could choose which candies they wished to purchase.  The local display, as I recall, had different flavors on the four sides.

I remember going to the grocery store with Grandma as she got the white Brach’s bag from the display and scooped some of the various candies into it.  A customer would pay by the pound for these treats.  In my mind’s eye, it was located in front of the refrigerated case at the back of the store.

I probably provided some unsolicited advice as which flavors Grandma needed to add to her bag.  To be honest, they were all good.

This is one of the childhood memories that is lost on the next generation, like a rotary dial phone and walking to the TV to change the channel.  How fun it was to “pick your own mix” as the display said and purchase exactly the quantity of candy that you wanted.

The little bag that carried the treats home was equally part of the experience.  Much cheaper than the thrill of opening an iPhone box, the white Brach’s bags provided the rustle of paper that hid the sweet contents.  Overtime, the paper would get softer as the bag was repeatedly opened and closed (usually rolled up or folder over).  I may have one in a box of childhood treasurers somewhere in the house.  I like to keep my collections of pins, doll clothes, and whatnot in them.

All this fun for just 49 cents a pound!  I guess we all miss those days!