Back in the Day: Easter was sweet as candy

People who know me are aware of my love for candy. A pharmacy not far from where I live has a candy section that takes me back in time. At The Tribune offices, employees treat me to various candies. My sister-in-law regularly sets aside candy for me from candy containers she keeps on a coffee table in her home. When I go to my township tax office to pay property taxes, candy is regularly offered to me as they are aware of my “sweet tooth.”

During my college days, my love for candy was reflected in the name my “little brothers,” the Scrollers Club of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Inc. used to refer to me during their pledge days. We all had special names and I was Sweet Daddy Lollipop, the Candy Man, to members of the Scroller pledge group. As you may have guessed, they showered me with candy.

On Sundays when I arrive early for church, my Pastor will often invite me to his “study” where he showers me with candy. Even church members will bring me bags of candy. While not forgetting the true meaning of this sacred day, my love for candy and Easter are inseparable. Thus, Easter always takes me back to the candies for which many of us yearned. So today, my focus is on candies that I love and have enjoyed since back in the day.

If there is an Easter basket in your home today, memories of favorite candies must come to mind. As a child, Easter was not Easter without a new outfit, attendance at church, Easter dinner and an Easter basket with lots of candy. You might recall that our Easter baskets were purchased empty and filled with candy by who we thought was the Easter bunny. Today’s Easter baskets are the plastic type that are purchased pre-filled and generally go into the trash as soon as the Easter season ends. Our baskets, back then, were wicker and lasted for years and were reused year after year.

As a youngster, my favorite candy on Easter or any other day was Mike and Ike. Whenever I went to the neighborhood variety store, I had to purchase a box of Mike and Ike. While it is technically a jellybean, as a child, I did not consider this to be a jellybean; to me it was simply a chewy, oblong candy with a variety of flavors such as cherry, orange, lime, lemon, strawberry as well as; pineapple and grape. As I got older, I continued to enjoy Mike and Ike, but transitioned to my favorite candy today, the traditional jellybean. Now, I love jellybeans, red jellybeans in particular. If you want to be special, treat me to a bag of jellybeans; not the expensive type but a relatively inexpensive bag as they seem to taste the best. In recent years, Snickers has climbed close to the top of my most desirable candy list. I know that you candy lovers have your favorite candies. Candy corn is undoubtedly on someone’s list. What about Smarties, Kit Kat miniatures, fudge, jaw breakers, Bassinettes, Peanut Chews, lollipops, licorice bag candy, and Candy Buttons? You may recall this candy as you peeled the small candy buttons off of a strip of papers to eat. I know, this brings back fond memories. Some of you had a taste for candy bars or small boxes of candy and preferred Baby Ruth, Oh Henry, Good ‘n Plenty, Tootsie Roll, Dots, Mary Jane, Reese’s, Hershey Bars, Milky Way and Three Musketeers. For me, while I loved Mounds and Almond Joy candy bars, they were a bit too pricey for me, so I seldom purchased one.

The two candies that I disliked most were the Peeps Marshmallow Chicks which was basically an Easter candy and Juicy Fruits that had little or no taste and were not good on one’s teeth. I am told that Peeps taste much better when they are stale. However, a trip to the movies usually resulted in the purchase of a Turkish Taffy or a Sugar Daddy. If you recall, these two items would last, sucking on them for the duration of the movie. For many, besides popcorn, they were movie favorites, back in the day.

Any thought of candy resurrects memories of the center of my Easter basket as a child, where there would be a humongous chocolate Easter egg. My father, who for a part of his life was a candy-maker, made some of the best chocolate Easter eggs. What made his chocolate eggs so special was the real coconut that filled the eggs. Just try to find one of these eggs today.

You may be asking how and when I developed a love for candy. Well, the Chocolate Easter Egg I just mentioned is tied to my love for candy. I was about four years of age when my father developed an entrepreneurial spirit and went into the candy business. He created and produced outstanding candies, mainly chocolates and fudge products, but his adventure was short lived as the color of his skin made it difficult to sell his products to white establishments. Using a white “go between” he did move some products, but the profits were not sufficient for his business to survive. However, this experience, did leave me with fond memories and a love for candy. So, Easter always brings back memories of candies from the past.

So, while the COVID Pandemic may have eliminated your Sunrise Easter Service, left you without a new Easter bonnet, eliminated your participation in an Easter Parade and limited the nature of your Easter Dinner, hopefully you had a basket or bowls of candy so that this Easter would have some semblance of Easters of the past because you had many of the candies that you loved and recall from back in the day.