Thursday, 7 May 2009

Pixie Sticks

In my childhood days neighbourhood corner groceries were thick on the ground. There are plenty of abandoned examples around town but few seem to have survived as groceries. This one is getting a new life.

I can report that they no longer dispense wax lips, licorice pipes, candy cigarettes or any of the other questionable junk I found so fascinating when I was 8 or 9 years old. 

These stores always had a pop cooler where the glass bottles sat in water up the their necks. It was usually a Coke cooler as I recall although I was much more of an Orange Crush or Hires Root Beer man when I was 9. The cooler always had a towel hanging on the side to dry the bottles.

We almost always 'drank in' so we wouldn't have to pay the extra 2¢ bottle deposit on a 5¢ (or 8¢?) bottle of pop.

8 comments :

Lois said...

You certainly brought back some wonderful memories for me with this post! My grandparents ran a store like this when I was growing up and I used to help out in the summers. I loved Orange Crush too, but RC Cola was my favorite!

Virginia said...

Thanks for that wonderful trip down Memory Lane, W!!! I laughed out loud at the thought of the wax lips and oh how I loved the candy cigarettes. My Aunt Lena was a smoker so I liked to copy her!!! ( She dipped snuff too but I drew the line there). I don't remember water in those coolers but I'm sure you're right about that . Coke was my fav but I enjoyed many an Orange Crush too. Sigh.......
V
PS Did you ever look on the bottom of the bottle to see where the Coke was bottled??

Anonymous said...

Let me guess Virg.

A&W on a hot summer day. Orange Crush was ok. Remember Tab? That was the vilest; tasted like some kind of motor lubricant. My mom drank Tab and Fresca.

elsie said...

you had me at pixie sticks - a blue one please...

Sharon said...

Wow, such amazing memories were streaming through my mind as I read your commentary. My grandfather used to walk me and my sisters the two blocks to a little corner market and let us pick out any penny cany we wanted. Sometimes wax lips, sometimes cany cigarettes, sometimes those little was bottles of coke. And, yes I do remember the pop cooler with the top sliding doors! Thanks for the memories!!

Virginia said...

And those little wax bottles with the syrup in them too!

My WV is SESSY! That's me!

Laurie Allee said...

Pop rocks. Those were my downfall. But pixie sticks ran a close second...

postie said...

yes the 8 cent coke in the stubby bottle. And the penny candy like the 3 for 1cent banannas. Ah the good old days . But then again I was only getting a quarter for allowance.