Who's Your Sugar Daddy?

by Eva Pasco, author of the novel "Underlying Notes"

During the early Sixties when I was of trick-or-treatin’ age, long before the tumultuous end of the psychedelic decade when the candy man mixed things with love to make the world taste good – you got yours by the penny or two at the local sugar shack. Whoa baby, to that sugar shack… So, what made your heart go giddy up? Who’s your Sugar Dandy?

Si, our liberal school bus driver who allowed kids to smoke inside his Yellow Submarine, occasionally veered off the beaten path along the afternoon route so we could indulge our sweetest desires. That meant Grandfather’s on Wilbur Road, or the candy counter inside the feed store on Jenckes Hill Road - goody goody gumdrop! Atomic Fire Balls, coconut watermelon slices, Indian Brand pumpkin seeds, red licorice laces, and Milk Duds made my heart go giddy up. Too young, it hadn’t yet crossed my mind to look for Mr. Goodbar.

Most times my sister and I picked what we wanted by cruising the supermarket aisles during the weekly grocery heist. Though our sweetest desires varied, I recall a haul of orange slices, marshmallow ice cream cones, Dum Dum pops, Bit-O-Honey, animal crackers, Circus Peanuts, Mary Janes, and Sky Bars. Limited to choosing two kinds, my mother stored them in the double-door cupboard under the electric range. As my sister and I practically crawled inside to grab only one or two treats during the course of the day while TV commercials aired, our candy stash lasted until the next shopping trip.

Quite theatrical in puttin’ on the Ritz with my mother’s vintage clothes, heels, hats, and handbags – the two of us never strutted our stuff without a pack of cigs – “Target,” whose evil twin was “Lucky Strike.” Two prim and proper society matrons, we each carried a tube of candy lipstick in our purse. Every application merely made our lips shine with stickiness.

My sister and I had an autumn fest helping our mom stuff the trick-or-treat bags with assorted candies and sprinkles of candy corn – some of which we nibbled on during the procedure. We gave each bag a final twist to secure its contents before distribution on Halloween.

Who’s your Sugar Dandy? More than professing affection for any one confection, to me it is the joy wrapped inside the simpler times of our past. Candy made the world taste good.

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