I ended up in my dad’s old office last week for the first time in almost 20 years. Although the building has changed dramatically the office is still the same. When I was young I would visit every day after school as I had an extremely important job. Dad would give me 15p to purchase his daily cigar from the shop across the road, but as it only cost 14p the change was mine to spend. Now I realise that 1p may not sound like much, but when you are only 7 years old and you can purchase 2 sweets for a penny it’s not bad. Everyday I would agonise between cola bottles, black jacks, fruit salads and chocolate mice, although generally cola bottles won out.
Sometimes on a Friday, generally at the end of the month, I would be given 20p. Well this was the equivalent of winning a 6 week rollover in 'EuroMillions', but without the kidnap risk. The whole sweet counter could be mine - almost! Decisiveness has never been my forte and I think it may stem from those agonizing choices as a child. Mainly I would opt for something that was tasty, but never lasted very long like a 'Snowball'. (for the uninitiated a Snowball is a poor girls’ Walnut Whip, think Jordan vs Erin O’Connor, cheap but still tasty).
The alternative was some Candy Pop Corn and penny sweets or I could get maximum ROI by buying a ‘Big Time Bar’? (rock hard caramel covered in chocolate with a bright yellow wrapper, which took around a week to eat). The challenge of buying a ‘Big Time Bar’ is that my dad would offer to save my teeth by taking a massive bite. I doubted the veracity of this altruistic action.
Although I struggle to remember what happened last weekend I can vividly remember my afternoon routine; the smell of cigar smoke, swinging around on the office chair while eating my sweets, telling Dad about playing Red Rover and who was my very best friend that day. In the current climate, due to a variety of health and safety concerns most of this activity wouldn't be possible.
But at least the important memories remain and some of my back molars will forever hold the imprint of those bloody 'Big Time' bars. Maybe Dad did know what he was doing after all.
31 comments:
"Well this was the equivalent of winning a 6 week rollover in 'EuroMillions', but without the kidnap risk."
Honey, you just made me spit wine! and its a 2005 Louis Latour Pinot Noir...God! Big time bars were fab weren't they? I remember when they were 5p and I'd get 10p from the tooth fairy which would quickly be translated into 2 'time bars and then more teeth would fall out and the cycle would repeat itself..
...and I bet it went a little something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEwVpWFyy3M
That you still have back molars is impressive---so much sugar!
Is - sorry desperate waste of wine. Delighted someone else remembers Big Time, is that a virtuous or vicious circle.
Anon - can't get link to work :-(
Sassy - not even sure what back molars are, but you get the idea.
Big Times were evil, and quite unfashionable in my day. Macaroons, now... they were the business.
Ah yes, but in all fairness, the outside of a Snowball was very similar to Macaroon, at the end of the day.
I used to spend up to half an hour in the local shop spending my 10p - I'd make my mind up and change it dozens of times. Cola bottles always won out with me too although there were two varieties -the really sour ones and the normal ones. I loved the ones that made your mouth water just thinking about them. And then there were cloves and apple drops .. I never once remember the shop lady losing patience with me.
In Ballymote we used to plague the poor old septuagenarian shopkeeper Owen Brehony by running in and asking him how much the penny sweets were. He eventually took to telling us they were '2p to you'.
Oh, so your sweet tooth came early, Flirty.
Your dad sounds like a sweetie!
OFF TOPIC
Just to let you know, you’ve been tagged at: http://southbelfastdiary.blogspot.com/2007/06/pieces-of-eight.html
In all fairness, that youtube made me laugh but in fairness not half as much as your last post. Know what I'm sayin' Sweary?
I loved refreshers those sweets that were the colour of Spongebob but hard like me.
Con - were they the ones covered in sugar that turned your face inside out?
Sean - we were too frightened of the shop keeper to do that.
Medbh - was born with it unfortunately.
Jenny - ok, no idea what that means?
73 - thanks but still can't see clip, damn rubbish broadband :-(
OK - LOVED Refreshers, particularly the giant ones.
Years ago I was at a seminar in a Dublin hotel with my boss. At break times we got coffee in a small room of the conference hall. He kept saying it felt familiar. It turned out it had been his father's office when the building was a government department - agriculture I think he said. My boss had only been 3 or 4 at the time.
They were - I think technically they were called fizzy cola bottles
Ooh yes and what about those flying saucer things that were like edible polystyrene with sherbet in the middle? Stuck to the roof of your mouth!
Thursday was payday when I was little and my Dad always came home in good humour with Capri Suns and Bramley apple pies. Then he'd take us for a spin around the outside of the house on the scooter - me behind, my brother in front. Happy days.
Fruit salads and apple jacks were my penny sweets of choice...
When i was a young 'un my parents had a newsagents, so i was always begging to be taking to this cash+ carry in phibsboro, which was sweet-tastic back then - just full of wham bars, nerds, eating paper, desperate dan bars, and cadet cola - hmm maybe that would explain why I spent my teens getting expensive orthodontic treatment!
Primal - ahh, impressive memory
Con - the very one!
Cherry - they always reminded me of holy communion, how wrong is that!
Caro - 3 on a scooter, impressive.
Anon - wham bars lol, had forgotten about them!
what a lovely funny post flirty. my dad died when i was young and i'd forgotten all of those memories - we used to buy his ciggies and spend his change on sweets too.
i used to love cola pips, you got thousand of them for 20p, we thought we were sooo clever getting so many sweets for that. ahh those were the days.
A good memory Flirty, and I'm partial to a cigar meself. Needless to say it's hard to get a good cigar locally for 14p. If you come across a Cohiba for that price be sure to let me know. :)
I had a soft spot for Flogs, because they were so ridiculous. Little did I know I'd grow up, move home a thousand times and use them as packing material.
Before that I was Gobstopper man, because they lasted between the found pennies that financed them. Actually there was one I bought in 1973 that I haven't finished yet.
Towny - glad it prompted some good memories.
Conan - bet they only cost 14p in Cuba but a long way to fly for the cost save!
Eolai - also LOVED flogs, but they were odd. Amazed anyone has teeth after those gobstoppers!
gotta love snowballs and wham bars - of all the sweets of our childhood they seem to have persevered the longest.
Just struck me Flirty, your Snowball pic looks exactly the same as a cigar looks, end on, when it's built up a head of ash.
what about that space dust stuff thtat crackled on your tongue. i used to love that...
rambling - snowballs still cause great excitement when I see them.
conan - you must be great at those, what is the picture games :-)
towny - ohhhh, magic dust and then it changed to chewing gum - mad!
Oooh. In some ways, I wish I was a kid then! The equivilent of your sweets nowadays is an iPod. OK, I lie. The equivilent is a new lipgloss. :) Mummy spent too much money on my orthodontic work to let me eat sweets!
Miss - I feel very very old now.
How old are you? 50?
Blarney - 50 and a half
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