Penny Candy

Racial residue from WWII and a sibling's reputation made buying penny candy in the 1950s a bit more troubling than it needed to be.

This is the scene of many a penny candy purchase.

I earned a shiny quarter  
Redeeming a wagonload of bottles.
After a brief moment to admire
Its sheen and the perfect way
It fit inside my sweating palm
I turned from the lady at the counter
And walked straight to where 
Penny candy was arrayed on shelves.
Purple gumballs and jawbreakers 
That bulged cheeks and changed colors
Bazooka Joe gum wrapped in comics
Ropes of red licorice and candy necklaces
Tubes of Neccos and Smarties
Squares of buttery smooth caramel 
And pretend cigarettes with a camel on the box 
My very favorites were Tootsie Pops
My shiny quarter could buy one of each. 
Too much to carry home without a sack
But I lined them up on my arm instead
And gave my quarter back to the lady.

That day I learned a sack was important
As I walked through the store.
A stern pair of very tall men 
Stopped me at the door.
One was the clerk in hardware
The other a frightening Japanese man
I'd never seen there before.
The corners of his mouth edged
Upward into a smirk when he asked 
Where did you get all that candy?
Was he a cop? Would I go to jail? Or worse?
I'd heard all the stories my parents told.
I led them both to the lady at the counter
She vouched for me and 
Shook out a tiny paper bag
Barely big enough to hold my haul 
All the way home I wondered if my sister
Had been there, joining her friends
Sneaking penny candy from the store.

If you enjoyed this post feel free to explore other poems, essays, and stories in the Ring Around the Basin Archive. I also love to read your comments, so please share your thoughts. Let’s start a conversation. And if you wish to support my writings, please consider subscribing or upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s now only $50/year. Even better, I would appreciate it if you could share Ring Around the Basin with your friends. Thank you!

All my books, Paradise Ridge, When the Horses Come and Go, and Ghost in the Forest are currently available on Kindle. 

Ghost in the Forest, is also available in paperback for ten bucks. Paradise Ridge is out-of-print, but the Kindle version is re-edited and better quality. Hard copies of “When the Horses Come and Go” are gone unless that dusty box in the corner still has some.

Book Review of Ghost in the Forest:

E.R. Flynn, Illustrator, Cartoonist, Storyteller and Creator of "Escape from Clowntown Comics" here on Substack.

"Ghost in The Forest" is a great read! Take note People. If you love stories about environmentalism and nature, its clash with urban mindsets, as well as personal transformation, this is the book for you!

"Ghost in The Forest" is a quick 126-page read. It's the story of Dori, a woman trapped in a mix of grief over parental loss and refusing to accept how her hometown and her friends have changed over the years. Because of this, Dori has become a recluse and a self-imposed misanthrope who finds more comfort amongst the hiking trails around her hometown of Morristown than in her dealings with the raw reality of other humans.

The book, in some ways, resembled Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” in that the story follows a protagonist's love of nature and angst about humans encroaching on it. In this case, it’s how Morristown is transforming into a mountain biking destination where cyclists run rampant on trails and nature.

However, a tragedy involving said mountain biking becomes a major pivot point for Dori, leading to a series of events that eventually bring about personal evolution and discovery.

If you're a nature lover, this book is a must-read. It beautifully portrays the clash between environmentalism and urban mindsets and the journey of personal transformation. The book's vivid descriptions of nature and the protagonist's love for it will surely intrigue you.

Paradise Ridge Review by western author D. B. Jackson:

If you draw circle roughly around an area that includes northern Nevada, southern Oregon, and southern Idaho, within that circle exists a culture and people who live a lifestyle largely untouched by modern values. These are the "buckaroos" and Basque characters author Sue Cauhape brings to life in her literary novel, "Paradise Ridge".

Leandro, the illegitimate seventh son of patriarch Xavier Arriaga and his mistress, Gisela, is at the center of this intriguing story that travels exceedingly successfully at both the personal level of the characters, as well as the compelling level where the story is told.

Cauhape writes in a literary style that reminds me of Annie Poulx. Paradise Ridge, on the surface, appears to be an upscale Western novel...once inside the pages, you will soon discover a potential classic waiting to be discovered.

I rated this book a 5...because that's all the stars there were.