Squirrel Nut Zippers memories...
When I was a kid, I lived in rural Georgia. About the best thing that happened them days besides watermelon time was when the plow man would grade the roads. He would toss candy out at us as he would pass... in the candy was BB Bats and Mary Janes and squirrel nut zippers, and safety pops, root beer barrels, Tootsie rolls, all penny candies we would rush to get all we could. We didn't get to go to town much and candy wasn't always on the list. My favorites were always squirrel nut zippers. I'd make bargains with my siblings to get all of them thrown out and as time passes we sometimes forget things from our past even simple things like candy... When I met my husband we went to North Carolina for a visit. We had breakfast at a cute country diner and strolled through the old shops and country stores. Well I found the squirrel nut zippers there and bought every thing they had in stock even a whole unopened box of them. My Husband thought I went nuts, he ate a few and found out how yummy they are. Now when we visit candy stores we search for them just so I can go back in time and remember what a simple life I once had just being a kid. ~ Judy from Florida As a kid there was little fishing pond up the street. People would pay the owner to fish there (he stocked the pond with trout). He kept a little shack near the pond where anyone could buy soda ("tonic" as it is called here) and penny candy. On Saturday I would get my 25 cent allowance and walk up the street to buy my share of penny candy. I would get a small brown paper bag filled with candy, but always splurged the most on Squirrels. I remember fondly, fighting to get the paper all undone off the Squirrels and if the paper did not all come off, well then you ate a little paper too! They were lovely... all chewy and sweet with nuts. Every time I see and eat them now I can recall a simpler time of sunny days outdoors playing, sticky candy wrappers, good books, and all "the good stuff" that seems to missing from our world now. ~ Lynne from Mass. Because allowance was rare, Bobby and I became entrepreneurs by collecting empty soda bottles off highway 17, the major southern four lane route into Charleston, S. C. We lugged our bottles to Gracie’s store and redeemed them for two cents each to buy handfuls of our favorite treasure - Squirrel Nut Zippers. We stuffed them in pockets and later hid them under pillows for a midnight snack when our fingers fidgeted to open the wax paper and plop the soft, dark nougat candy with little flecks of nuts into our mouths. A dream, a delight, a delicious childhood. ~ Jim from California |
