Kid in a Mom and Pop Candy Store and Nostalgic Memories

I've written about my grandparents who lived in the country, but I also have good memories of the ones who lived in the big old town of Clover.

One of my favorite things to do when visiting or spending the night there was to walk to Joe Price's store on Main Street to buy candy. Joe and his wife operated the store and were extremely patient with kids who couldn't make up their minds about what to buy.

Much More Than Candy

It was much more than the candy, though. We usually went in through the back door, and to open that heavy, squeaky screen door was to enter a different world. The store was longer than it was wide and even in the summertime it seemed cool, although the shade trees outside and an occasional breeze probably had a lot to do with that.

The wooden floors, if I remember correctly, were cool and clean to bare feet, and although the aisles were stocked with the typical canned goods and staples such as sugar and flour, these ordinary items became more interesting.

My sister, Laurie, once picked up a bag of dried pinto beans and exclaimed that they cost only 49 cents. One of our cousins grabbed the bag out of her hands and told her we weren't there for beans, and we all burst into laughter. Of course we were there for the candy.

Mrs. Price Chooses the Candy

The penny candy was kept in a glass case, and Mrs. Price usually stood behind the counter waiting for our selections. There were caramels, Tootsie Rolls, butterscotch, peppermints, Pixie Sticks and Pez, and much more. We were pretty shy and would sometimes just hand over a dime and ask for ten cents worth of penny candy and she would choose for us.

I once asked for a box of Luden's cough drops because I thought it was candy and I liked the bright orange package. Mrs. Price asked was I sure I wanted cough drops and I said yes. Of course I really wanted candy, but I was too embarrassed to tell her by then.

There was compensation in the form of the bubble gum machine, though, that stood by the candy counter. If you got a speckled gumball, you got to choose a free piece of candy. There were enough speckled gumballs in the machine, that trying for one was not a futile attempt, and quite often one of us would get one.

Grocery List

My grandmother gave me a list of groceries to pick up for her one day, and told me all I had to do was give it to the Price's and they would get the stuff. I was alone that day, and a little proud to be handling a grocery list, so I got some of the items myself before handing it over. The only thing I remember from that list was a pint of butter pecan ice cream, but I'm sure as I walked back to my grandmother's I was already planning my next trip to the store.