If you went to the corner store as a kid and you had 5 cents. What penny candy would your buy? I would buy a pretzel

[debm55]

stick, 2 lipsticks, and 2 wax bottles with the flavored water (?) inside. How about you?

[Walleye]

1. Tootsie rolls and MaryJanes

[debm55]

3. Thank you very much,Walleye.

[Captain Zero]

2. I'm so old I could get a Payday or Snickers bar

for a nickel. I kid you not.
Also Mallo Cups, and Reese Cups.

Orange Dreamsicles and Fudgesicles were a dime though. So I usually only had a nickel and could not get one of those.

[debm55]

4. HAHAHAHAHAH. That is funny Captain Zero.

[Phoenix61]

5. Tootsie rolls and pixie sticks. 😀

[debm55]

79. Thank you very much, Phoenix61

[dhol82]

6. At least two maltie balls at two for a penny.

Chocolate covered malted milk balls.
Then penny licorice strips, candy dots on a strip of paper, and probably a pretzel stick.
Five cents would have been a windfall. Usually only two or three cents.

[debm55]

8. Thank you very much 82. Thank you for sharing.. I got my money from collecting glass pop bottles along the alleys.The

paper dot strips always had the paper stuck to candy dots.

[alwaysinasnit]

7. Not candy, I would buy a dill pickle - a big, fat, juicy one.

[debm55]

10. Hey , you were lucky. I would trade the candy in for a pickle. Thank you alwaysinasnit.

[alwaysinasnit]

13. ...

[Ocelot II]

9. I could get a Mars bar for a nickel in those days.

[debm55]

11. Thank you Ocelot II. Yep , those were good.

[yellowdogintexas]

106. yep, or a Three Musketeers (my favorite) They don't taste even close to they way they did in the 1950s

No such thing as penny candy store in my little dumpy 250 population town

[MIButterfly]

12. Bonomo Turkish taffy.

I loved that stuff. As I recall, you would slap it on a table and then eat the pieces.

Or was that Bit-o-Honey? 🤔

Anyway Bonomo Turkish taffy was my favorite.

[SheltieLover]

14. Yes!!!

[Freddie]

19. They still make it!

Found it on Amazon (sorry). The mini’s aren’t the same (too soft) but the bars are exactly the same. Vanilla was my favorite. Watch your dental work!

[debm55]

39. Thank you Freddie. I liked the strawberry,

[debm55]

20. MIButterfly. Loved Turkish taffy. We would slap it on the sidewalk. When you unwrapped it would be in dozens of pieces.

The bit of honey was good too. If I bought the Turkish Taffy. all my money would be gone.. Did you have the Jaw Breakers????

[MIButterfly]

26. Yes, I had jawbreakers. I also liked the string red licorice.

Oh boy, those were the days. Before going to the movies, we used to go to the corner store and stock up on penny candy because the concessions at the movies were so expensive. Some things never change, eh?

[debm55]

27. They always reminded me of shoe laces. Thank you for sharing MIButterfly.

[SheltieLover]

15. Powerhouse candy bar, slo-poke caramel sucker

Regal Crown sour cherry candy (newer ones suck!)

[debm55]

21. Thank you SheltieLover. I live the slo-poke sucker. However, I pulled a tooth out trying to get it out of my tooth. I

never had it again. My mistake was to bite down on it.

[SheltieLover]

23. Oh no!

Sorry to hear.

[debm55]

28. Thanks. It was a baby tooth, thank goodness.

[MIButterfly]

16. My mother loved Chunky her whole life.

Of course, it's gotten harder to find over the years and it sure isn't a nickel anymore.

[debm55]

22. Thank you MIButterfly. Chuncky bars were good with the raisins and nuts. I haven't seen in a long time either.

[BBbats]

97. Chunky Bar's Are Still With Us.

Hard to find. The little shop across the street from me carries them.
The manager/clerk said he couldn't believe the reaction he got from older customers when they started carrying them.

[debm55]

100. Thank you BBbats, Good news. Thank for sharing.

[LoisB]

17. With my nickel, I would buy a Hershey's Bar with almonds or a bag of Weis' potato chips.

[debm55]

24. Thank you very much LoisB. The hershey 's of my youth was great. Hershey's changed the name of today is a different

chocolate. If you ever get a chance to visit South Central PA. visit Hershey Land. It is great.

[LoisB]

41. I was raised in central PA. We took a school trip to the Hershey factory in (I think) 6th

grade. The smell was overwhelming but it was a lot of fun.

[dem4decades]

18. Atomic Fireballs

[debm55]

25. HAHAHAHAHHAH. Thank you, dem4decades. But they would burn. I remember them being right next to the Jaw Breakers.

[gab13by13]

29. I put my nickel in the pinball machine.

[debm55]

33. HAHAHAHAH.Thank you gab13by13,

[johnp3907]

30. Red Hot Dollars!

I loved how chewy they were, and they weren't hot 'n spicy! They were raspberry flavored.

[debm55]

34. Thank you johnp3907. I don't think my store carried those - I wished they did. I enjoy the taste of raspberry. Yum

[Coolgoober]

31. More is better

Bazooka bubble gum, tootsie rolls, and fireballs

[debm55]

35. Yes, Coolgoober. Bazooka bubble gum wrapped in the tiny comic. You liked fireballs?Oh my

[doc03]

32. Mallo Cups

[debm55]

36. Thank you doc03. That and Chunky were my two favorite candy bars.

[DBoon]

37. five cents?

the best I could maybe do would be a stick of gum.

Now 25 cents, you'd be talking about real candy money.

[debm55]

42. But it was penny candy. So if you had a dime, you could buy ten, yes that's ten pieces of candy. They were smaller

versions.

[DBoon]

43. unfortunately, not in my life

maybe a dime, definitely a quarter, but I never saw penny candy

[johnp3907]

59. Those little brown paper bags!

They’d actually absorb the aroma of some types of candy! I always had little bags that smelled like Red Hot Dollars and Swedish Fish!

[debm55]

64. Yes. johnp3907. I forgot about the little brown bags. Thank you.

[dlilafae]

38. Red gummy fish

[debm55]

44. Thank you dillafae. You know I was thinking and don't remember having one. What did it taste like????

[AllaN01Bear]

50. ''

https://beaconhillchocolates.com/product/swedish-fish/

[debm55]

80. Thank you very much, AllaN01Bear.

[NBachers]

40. Fireball, licorice sticks, and a long thick pretzel was the biggest bang for your nickel. Sugar Daddy & Butternut

candy bar were good too; Butternut was my favorite; or Snickers or 3 Musketeers, the candy bar that can be split 3 ways.

Of course, a Sky Bar was always a good option, too. And, of course, the bubble gum cigars.

Chum Gum, 3 for a penny, was an option, but the flavor'd wear out on those pretty quickly.

The money cards you'd get in Mallo Cups or Peanut Butter Cups was a form of gambling, but my brother and I both were able to save up the cardboard cash to the $5.00 required to get a box of 10 mailed to us. In fact, we both scored a #1.00 card several times.

[debm55]

46. NBachers , your selection is wonderful. Thank you so much. Gee, and after all those years I find out that those gray

cardboard could be traded in. I thought it would stop the cups from melting and them them out.

[NBachers]

55. Yeah, if you accumulated five bucks in Mallo Cup Money, you could send it off and get 10 Mallo Cups in the mail!

So when we got an actual dollar, it was like hitting the jackpot.

[debm55]

69. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks NBachers.

[pfitz59]

45. jawbreaker

they lasted sooooooo long!

[debm55]

47. Thank you pfitz59, Did your jawbreaker change color as you got to the white center?

[AllaN01Bear]

48. this

https://rainbowlandcandyco.com/products/nik-l-nip-tropical?variant=44991800475882&country=US&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOoqAdRWJSeLX4N84g3fkKqLCa9j09wq08kqaWLBvc8r0RZNoNSPc0rU&gQT=1

[debm55]

83. Thank you , Bear for sharing.

[rickyhall]

49. Doublebubble

[debm55]

84. Thank you very much rickyhall for sharing with us.

[AllaN01Bear]

51. not in my life time.

[AllaN01Bear]

52. my mom and aunt would goto the movies and get that red popcorn.

[debm55]

75. Thank you Bear. Was it a hot taste to it? I had the pink popcorn.

[AllaN01Bear]

82. i dont know . a locoal store sells the pink popcorn in a bag . if tthe price is right i may get some .

[debm55]

86. Try it. It is sweet though.

[debm55]

85. HAHAHAHHAH.

[Wicked Blue]

53. One red licorice whip, one wax moustache,

one wax lips, and two pixy stix.

[debm55]

74. Thank you Wicked Blue. I real liked the red licorice.

[orangecrush]

54. I can remember

Nickel ice cream sandwiches

[debm55]

73. Thank you orangecrush and Klondike bars.

[CentralMass]

56. Good & Plenty was one. Jaw breakers, small boxes of thin mints.

[debm55]

72. Thank you very much for sharing with us, CentralMass. Yes, they came in a very small box with maybe one or two pieces of

candy.

[LogDog75]

57. Gum Drops

[debm55]

71. Thank you very much for sharing, LogDog75

[LudwigPastorius]

58. I'd get...

2 Atkinson peanut butter bars



2 Lemon drops



and 1 Atomic Fireball

[debm55]

63. Thank you very much LudwigPastorius. You have a selection there.

[WheelWalker]

60. Boston baked beans

[debm55]

70. Thank you very much, WheelWalker. I remember those. The penny candy ones had a few in a cellophane wrapper.

Sometimes I would buy the larger box.

[pansypoo53219]

61. i got 10 pack of hot tooth pics. extra strong hot cinnamon + i would suck + chew them to bits.

new ones suck.

[debm55]

68. Thank you very much, pansypoo53219. for sharing with us. Too hot for me.

[no_hypocrisy]

62. When I was 4, you could buy a Hershey bar for 5 cents.

I remember that fact vividly because my mother bribed me with a nickel if I unlocked the car doors to let my pediatrician give me the measles vaccine (of all things!).

Even at 4, I understood the power of negotiation and transaction. Plus, my measles immunity is still good.

[debm55]

65. Thank you very much, no_hypcrisy for sharing with us.

[surrealAmerican]

66. Sugar babies ...

... but a nickel didn't buy much even then.

[debm55]

67. Thank you surrealAmerican. You are right, they were like very small versions of the ones sold.

[viva la]

76. Neco wafers

And orange gummy slices.

[debm55]

87. Thank you very much for sharing, viva la

[justaprogressive]

77. Atomic Fireballs!

or Red Hots (both cinnamon based)

[debm55]

89. Thank you for sharing with us, justaprogressive. They were too hot for me, though

[FarPoint]

78. Red Hot Dollars

Last edited Fri Jul 18, 2025, 12:28 PM - Edit history (1)

They don't make them anymore...The Heide Red Raspberry.

[debm55]

90. Thank you FarPoint. for sharing with us. I don;t recall getting those. I stuck with my favorites.

[gay texan]

81. Bazooka bubble gum.

5 for a nickel

[debm55]

91. Thank you very much, gay texan. And the tiny comic that came with it.

[crud]

88. Candy Cigarettes

or those wax coke bottle things. I was already under corporate America's influence.

[debm55]

92. Thank you crud. I also bought the wax bottle with the flavored water insides. My friends would eat the wax bottle. I

just threw them out.

[Arger68]

93. Bubs Daddy bubble gum

Came in a string about 3/8" diameter and about 6 inches long

[debm55]

94. Thank you very much, Arger68 for sharing with us.

[CanonRay]

95. Ice Cube

I still love that chocolate, but you don't see them any more.

[debm55]

96. Thank you very much for sharing with us, CanonRay. I don't think my regular corner penny candy store sold them. Bummer.

[BBbats]

98. At The Reading Terminal Market In Philadelphia PA............

There's a Fudge/Candy shop that sells a lot of these loose by the pound.
Including Bit O' Honeys,Goetz Caramel Cremes,Dad's Root Beer Barrels,Ice Cubes, Chick-O-Stix & lots of others I long forgot.

[Emile]

99. Sweethearts, tootsie rolls and bubble gum.

[debm55]

101. Thank you very much, Emile for sharing your selections.

[Dorothy V]

102. Anybody ever see Chills Bars? Cost 3 cents. I could buy them at the general store in Adelanto in those days, early 60s

Only place I ever saw them at and googling them turns up zip. They were small but good, and with the 2 cents change I could get a couple of jawbreakers.
Amazing how so many of my happy childhood memories date from the years we lived in the Awful Mojave, land of sandstorms, rattlers, tumbleweed attacks, and 120 degrees in the shade summers.

[debm55]

103. Thank you very much, Dorothy V. I don't remember Chills Bars. It could be regional. I really liked Bun Bars in maple. I

haven't seen it mentioned.here though.Thanks for sharing.

[displacedvermoter]

104. Mint Juleps and Atomic Balls of Fire

[debm55]

105. Thank you very much for sharing your selections with us.displacedvermoter.

[ProfessorGAC]

107. 2 Mary Janes & 3 Bazooka Bubble Gums

[debm55]

108. Thank you ProfessorGAC for your selection. Also thank you very much for the link to your band. I really enjoyed.