in Branson ,
Missouri
head home?” my husband asked.
“Sure,” I replied. As I stepped into Dick’s Five and Dime Store,
a flood of sweet
memories came to my mind and filled my heart with
gladness. Visions of our three
children running up and down the isles looking at the toys
and even visions of my own
childhood experiences in other Five and Dime Stores in
Bolivar and Buffalo , Missouri
brought smiles to my heart. Five and Dime Stores, being a
popular type of business in the
60’s, provided fun learning experiences and provided the
means in making memories for
my family.
Many times our
mother would take us to the Five and Dime Store in Bolivar, Missouri
to pick up Household items and undoubtedly we ended up in
the toy section. “I think I
want a kite today. I
want a set of jacks? Oh, Mom, look at
this felt marker set!” The
shopping experience created as much fun as playing with our
new toys and gadgets.
These toys and gadgets, also, provided my brother and I with
many great fun learning
experiences.
We bought clay in
a package of four square bars in red, yellow, green, and blue. We
would mold the clay in animal shapes, dish shapes, flower
shapes, and more. Mixing the
colors together was a great experience, too.
Over the years we
bought many different simple toys such as a jump rope, a set of
jacks and kites. We
even purchased school supplies each fall.
The most fun Five
and Dime experience I had was one warm summer afternoon. My
younger brother and I along with our mother sat waiting in
the car for my dad. Time
seemed to drag on and on watching for our father to complete
a business transaction with
a local business owner in Buffalo , Missouri
square such as a bank, a clothing shop, a barber shop, a five
and dime store, and jewelry
store. “Mom, can we
go look around in the dime store?” I asked.
“Well, I
don’t know. Your Dad
will probably be out soon and then we can pick up some
groceries,” replied my Mom.
“Please?” my brother and I cried in unison. Our mother
looked at the store assessing the store and the distance
from where we were parked.
“Well, okay. Here is
twenty-five cents. Why don’t you buy you
and your brother a bag
of candy?” “Oh that
sounds great!”
Excitedly, I
jumped out of the car with the quarter in hand.
As I stepped into the store,
I observed long counters upon counters of penny candy. In fact, I had never seen so
much candy in all of my 9 years! Pixie Sticks, Jolly Ranchers, Laffy Taffy, Sweet
Tarts,
Sugar Babies, Sugar Daddies, Double Bubble Bubble Gum, Jaw
Breakers, and other
kinds of candy to fill our bag with. What does a Pixie Stick taste like? And Sweet Tarts?
I glanced back out at the car questioningly. My brother anxiously peered out of the car at
me anticipating what I was choosing for both of us. There was only one way to find out
and that was to try different candies. I filled our bag with two of each kind of
candy I
thought my brother and I would like to eat. The quarter bought a lot of candy for two 7
and 9 year old kids to devour!
Arriving to the
car, my brother opened the back door for me.
We poured the bag of
candy onto the back seat.
“Oh! Ah! What is this?
Let’s try the Pixie Sticks first?”
The
little grains were a taste bud treat of sweet and sour all
at the same time! “Let’s don’t eat
too much! We don’t
want to make ourselves sick.” Over the
course of the next two days
my brother and I consumed the twenty-five cent bag of candy. We thoroughly enjoyed
ourselves. After the
experience, every time we traveled to Buffalo ,
Missouri
bag of penny candy.
Five and Dime
Stores provided fun learning experiences and memories for my
family. As Benjamin
Benii once said, “We didn’t realize we were making memories, we
just knew we were having fun.”
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