I’ve just been reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. When he arrived in Philadelphia for the first time as a teenager, he stopped at a bakery and asked for three pennys worth of bread. It turned out that prices were lower there than he was used to, and they gave him three large loaves. He ate one and gave the other two away.
I remember being able to get a few things for one penny even a couple of centuries after Ben Franklin, but now it’s hard to find anything for much less than a dollar.
My grandfather sold penny candy in the 1950s. It was kept in glass jars on top of the counter. It was still available in the 1970s, but they raised the price to 5 cents.
Our corner store had many candies that sold for three for a penny. Jaw-breakers were my favorite. Ten cents would pretty much fill a small paper candy bag. When I was a little older, about ten or 12, I could buy a soda, a comic book and a full size candy bar for a quarter. Of course, incomes were MUCH smaller then too. It’s all relative.
We had a nearby store where we did the exact same thing. We went there a lot because my father was a chain smoker and paid cash, of course, for cigarettes, and we got the small change for our candy.
We would go up to the glass case, with shelf after shelf of penny candy. We had to hold out our hand to show the man how much money we had first, and then we would point to each candy we wanted until we used up our money.
No fine chocolates ever tasted as good as that penny candy.
mccollunsky 28 days ago
Well, sorry Charlie Brown, you have to drool somewhere else, gonna scare away customers.
Kaputnik 28 days ago
I’ve just been reading The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. When he arrived in Philadelphia for the first time as a teenager, he stopped at a bakery and asked for three pennys worth of bread. It turned out that prices were lower there than he was used to, and they gave him three large loaves. He ate one and gave the other two away.
I remember being able to get a few things for one penny even a couple of centuries after Ben Franklin, but now it’s hard to find anything for much less than a dollar.
top cat james 28 days ago
Now go read the comic books on the spinner rack and not buy any.
jessebob42 28 days ago
Penny candy. You’re lucky to get quarter a piece candy today.
nancyb creator 28 days ago
My grandfather sold penny candy in the 1950s. It was kept in glass jars on top of the counter. It was still available in the 1970s, but they raised the price to 5 cents.
Gameguy49 Premium Member 28 days ago
Our corner store had many candies that sold for three for a penny. Jaw-breakers were my favorite. Ten cents would pretty much fill a small paper candy bag. When I was a little older, about ten or 12, I could buy a soda, a comic book and a full size candy bar for a quarter. Of course, incomes were MUCH smaller then too. It’s all relative.
ladykat 28 days ago
I remember penny candy!!
JLChi 27 days ago
We had a nearby store where we did the exact same thing. We went there a lot because my father was a chain smoker and paid cash, of course, for cigarettes, and we got the small change for our candy.
We would go up to the glass case, with shelf after shelf of penny candy. We had to hold out our hand to show the man how much money we had first, and then we would point to each candy we wanted until we used up our money.
No fine chocolates ever tasted as good as that penny candy.
oakie817 27 days ago
i remember when you could buy things for a penny
eced52 27 days ago
Used to buy penny candy in a confectioners shop in Geary, Oklahoma when I was very little.
Shikamoo Premium Member 26 days ago
Leo’s Smoke Shop in Penetanguishene, ON sold penny candy. I loved going in there. There was a wooden “Indian” outside.