Do you have a favorite
"candy you ate as a kid" story?
Share it here.I got introduced to Chuckles as a kid. I've always like jelly-type candies (gum drops, orange slices, etc.), but I think what was attractive about Chuckles was the variety of colors and the large size of the pieces. When my dad would go to the feed mill in town, I and my brother would often go along. While my dad was busy having feed ground, we'd run all over the mill, climbing on the towering stacks of feed sacks and playing hide and seek.
The front room where you'd pay had other intriguing attractions, such as a scale that we'd weigh ourselves on, and a candy-dispensing vending machine that was unlike any I've ever seen, before or since. It was a tall, skinny, white metal box that contained little shelves upon which rode all sorts of great treats, including Chuckles. There was a large brown dial on the side that enabled you to maneuver whichever candy you wanted into the correct position. The money went in somewhere, and then the pull of a level sent the candy to the bottom where you could retrieve it.
We didn't often buy from that vending machine, as we seldom had any money, but we loved to turn that dial and watch the candy bars and other treats parade past the window over and over again. The owner of this same feed mill kept a box of Safety Pops behind the counter to give out to kids that came in, so we always went home with something sweet! I had forgotten all about Chuckles until recently when I spotted some in a store. I have since found other old favorite candies turning up here and there and am putting together a bag of treats for each of my nieces and nephews to give them at Christmastime. ~ Jay from Minneapolis
