Hello, fellow ex-Newarkers: How many of
you remember those little squeezable tubes of a plastic substance,
that came with a little plastic straw, and was called "plastic
bubbles"? You put a dab on the end of the little plastic straw,
and blew into the other end, and Voila, (!), out came this bounceable
plastic bubble. The smell was probably very toxic, not unlike paint
varnish or turpentine....you probably could DIE from prolonged smelling
the stuff, but no one told us that back in those days. It sold at
the local candy store for ten cents a tube, and your mothers went
nuts over the stuff, because it did not wash out of clothing, if
you got any of it on yourself.
Also, how many of you recall buying those great delicacies called,
"Charlotte Russes", they consisted of sponge cake, with
a little whipped cream on top, and they came in a little scalloped
edge push up cardboard container. They too, sold for ten cents a
piece, and you could only buy them certain times a year, but I can't
recall just when.
And how about the comic book rack....usually a wooden (probably
Mahogany) vertical rack, and you stood there reading, while the
candy store owner became increasingly angry, since you usually were
"just browsing", rather than spending that mighty dime
or later on, that noble quarter!
Of course, on Saturday nights for a real treat, or when COMPANY
came to the house, your mom would go to the candy store for fresh,
hand dipped ice cream, which would be packed into a carton, similar
to the Chinese food take-out cartons we have today. If the candy
store owner liked you, he or she would pack the ice cream up past
the sealing flaps, giving you some extra ice cream, and then maybe
the whole carton would be weighed on a little scale, intended just
for this purpose. I can still recall the creamy taste of that coffee
ice cream....none like it today, even Baskin-Robbins, or Friendly,
no one can reproduce that great, creamy taste of fresh, hand dipped
ice cream. What a treat that was!!!
Who can also recall a brand of soda called Washington's; it was
a script type of writing on a squat little bottle, usually came
in orange, lime or fruit punch flavor. My favorite was the fruit
punch!
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