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Y'all come on in!

Friday, May 22, 2015

Penny Candy!

I'm still spending every day in the writing cave and so far I've met my goal each day. The book is coming along very well and my characters are still talking to me. This week my daughter brought me a whole zip lock bag full of banana Laffy Taffy so I'd have something to nibble on while I write.

It brought back all those memories of the penny candy in the grocery store when I was growing up. Each kind had it's own jar and sometimes it took quite a long time figuring out which pieces I wanted. I loved the banana bikes and the root beer barrels (because they lasted longer than the softer candy). I mentioned it on Facebook and folks began to tell me about their favorite penny candy and it brought back even more memories of how we got that candy.

It was back in the late '50's and we didn't have a home delivery postal system in Tishomingo, Oklahoma so Mama sent me to the post office several days a week to get the mail. It was also in the days when mamas could do that without fear because everyone in town looked after the children in their little community.

Now there was any number of ways to go from our house which was about half a mile from the post office. And it did not take long to figure out which route to take to find pop bottles where the idiots who didn't value two cents threw them out on the road. When you are buying penny candy, you could redeem two pop bottles for four pieces of candy. That was a root beer barrel for me, a Bit-O-Honey for Mama, Kits for my sister and a Sixlets for my brother. Not a bad day's work when I brought back the mail along with it.

So today I took a trip down memory lane, remembering searching along a little dirt road for pop bottles and using the money to buy penny candy while I carefully unwrapped Laffy Taffy and let the imitation banana flavor melt in my mouth.

In my work-in-progress Fiona is taking a trip down memory lane as she puts up the Christmas tree. Magic and miracles happen in holiday books...just like it did on those days when I found two or sometimes even three pop bottles on the way to the post office!

Do you remember penny candy? What was your favorite kind? And do you believe that magic and miracles can happen in holiday books? What's your favorite Christmas romance book?

2 comments:

  1. Is it strange that as I read this, I was nibbling on the Necco wafers? I saw them the other day and they flat out refused to stay in their place in the store's display. And, being one of my favorites, they always made their way into my Easter baskets and Christmas stockings. To answer your question about miracles, yes they happen. In books or in life, miracles happen at any time. You just have to look for them, even when you're having a horrible day and there's your favorite candy in an unexpected place and all the happy memories suddenly seem to flood in to improve one of my "Jesus Days."

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  2. Oh Mama - don't the world turn 'round!? I love this story and I love you bunches and oodles. I haven't got to comment on your blogs lately because I forgot my username and password! I thought I'd just forgotten the password but I'd forgotten the username too! LOL I spent 30 minutes getting this all figured out. I think - no I KNOW... I am technically challenged!

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