Tuesday, August 10

Remember?

The Brach's "Pick-a Mix" stands at the grocery stores? Jilly's crocheted candy dish post reminded me. My grandparents always had those Brach's butterscotch hard candies--the ones that came wrapped in yellow cellophane. I tried to like them, because they were candy, dammit, and candy was a GOOD thing. But I didn't, really.

Those Brach's stands would also have lots of small bins containing starlite mints, those fruit flavored hard candy sour balls, wrapped in a little twist of clear cellophane, individually wrapped caramels and those strange, chewy coconut candies, and numerous other slightly odd candies. Honestly, I never really liked any of it very much, though I could tolerate the sour balls if I could get a red one.

And I recall that you could "sample" a piece there in store if you dropped a nickel in the little metal box attached to stand. I'd give my kids a nickel for a sample if they went to the grocery store with me, and they'd really try to be happy about it and find something that wasn't gross. But let's face it--they'd really have preferred to just have some Nerds or a Jolly Rancher.

I don't suppose that "Pick a Mix" stuff still exists, though I know I still see Brach's candies in bags, especially jelly beans at Easter time.

Poor Brach's. I guess all the old people who liked their strange candy are now eating it from that dusty candy bowl in the sky...

7 comments:

Jilly said...

the giant near me has a pick-a-mix stnad but if you eat a peice, it's $25 now. My mom would never allow us to have that, but she'd give us a peice of big red gum on the way home if we didn't annoy her at the store. i actually love butterscotch candy and really love the butter rum lifesavers candy, but i think that's because my favorite old man neighbor used to give them to us as a treat to wash down those god-awful floruide pills we had to eat several times a day. my mom wasn't big on candy really ever. she's done a complete turn around and often hands out awesome candy like ring pops and blow pops to my niece and nephew with a wink and a "don't tell anyone it was me."

mandolin thinks raisins and apple sauce are candy. she'll ask me for candy and hand me a box of raisins, so i'll give it to her without correcting her. i hope she forgives me one day.

Jilly said...

sheesh that's $.25, $25 for a piece of candy is crazy

vq said...

I'm glad to know they still exist. Maybe now that I"m in my 50s, I'll start liking that kind of candy....

Sonya said...

I loved the chocolate covered raisins and peanuts from Brachs.. And bridge mix, which I didn't understand. My great-grandmother had a lemon drops candy dish with a lid. I thought it was made of crystal, but it really is just glass. There's still a Brach's candy store on Colorado Blvd. but I have never gone inside.

Brenda said...

my grandma had a candy dish too. it was a dish on a pedestal, creamy white with pink roses and green leaves on it. she had good stuff in there from what i remember.
every grandma needs a candy dish. i will have to remember that. ;)

UrbanStarGazer said...

Ditto. My grandma had a dish as well. She used to crochet very delicate doilies (sp?) and one was under her candy dish. She didn't fill hers with Brachs, she had hard candies -- some were the ribbons but there were these little raspberry shaped and colored hard candies which had a squishy blob of raspberry flavored stuff in the middle. I did like those.

emma said...

My grandma had no crappy candy dish