“…it was twice as big and cost a nickel.” Okay, Grandma. And films cost ten cents to watch and popcorn was almost free and things were better, you were poor but happy and everything totally rocked.
I never understood what my grandmother was talking about when she would go on about her times and how little everything cost. I was reminded of all this by reading about peanut butter on So Good. I have noticed myself, in recent years, talking in a similar way, but not quite as often as Grandma did. I was just telling my lovely wife a few weeks ago, while buying a newspaper, that when I was about eight years old my parents would give me a dollar to go get a Sunday New York Times and would let me keep the 25 cents change. Of course, I never saved it, as my father suggested, but opted to buy a Snickers bar or Wacky Packages. Those were my vices at that age. It was a simpler time.
Were the candy bars bigger then? Well, as a ratio of my total body mass, they certainly were, but that’s a comparative judgment. A full-size Snickers bar felt in my hand like a giant cudgel and could almost be used as a walking stick. That was a full meal back in the day. I did not save my candy bar wrappers from the days of yore, so I cannot be sure, but I don’t think the candy bars of my youth were any bigger. I think it was just that my hands were smaller.
In addition, companies make much larger candies nowadays as well, so I suppose it’s hard to really make a fair comparison. Of course, everything is more expensive. I don’t think anything is cheaper now than when I was a kid, except for maybe buggy whips and flashbulbs.
What are the candies you remember fondly from your childhood? How do you remember them?
Giant Chocolate Bar by RHK313.
1:20 pm on January 12th, 2009
People have been tracking chocolate bars as an “index” for a hundred years now. I graphed them last year and it looks like at least Hershey bars are pretty big compared to the past.
Now, other candy bars, yeah, I think some of those got smaller. Sometimes I wish Snickers were just a little smaller, I really can’t finish one.
To answer your question though – I loved Heath bars & Mounds as a kid. I know it was probably the least cool candy bars to like but I wasn’t much for peer pressure.
1:25 pm on January 12th, 2009
Cybele, you are a rebel. That makes you cool, even if you don’t do it to look cool.
5:51 pm on January 12th, 2009
Cybele,
Can you tell me where to find the chocolate bar index?
Does it account for how much a dollar (or dime) was worth at the time?
Elise
7:25 pm on January 12th, 2009
Ha, ha, ha!!! Carl, you crack me up!! Walking stick – ha, ha! Have you seen the lastest giant Three Musketeers? I saw one this weekend and it was enormous!! I too loved Snickers and it REALLY does seem smaller to me. I also liked Zero bars – I can’t find them anymore. But the hardest thing for me was making a choice!! (Some things never change.)
8:37 am on January 13th, 2009
The Snickers are definitely smaller. I used to love Smoothies, and Buns. Also Rally bars, which whenever I mention this now defunct candy bar people look at me like I’m crazy. They remember my beloved Smoothies and Buns, but not Rally.
10:04 am on January 13th, 2009
Libby, I remember Rally bars although I don’t remember what they taste like. I don’t remember the other two you mentioned. Maybe I am the negative reciprocal of normal people. That would make sense.
Denise – It seems like now and then I see a Zero bar but rarely. I think they are still produced. Hershey acquired the Zero bar in 1996 and I think is still producing them. I bet you can order them online somewhere if you want a case of them.
11:55 am on January 13th, 2009
Freshen’ Up gum. I LOVED it, but my mother almost never let me have it (since there is nothing inherently evil about it, I assume it was because SHE didn’t like it). Also, Goetze’s caramel creams in the multi-pack from vending machines. I perceived the number of pieces as a real value for my money. That’s a phenomenon we see in kids to this day – it’s referred to as “times to mouth”. In fact, I may write a blog post about it.
7:45 pm on May 19th, 2009
Great blog entry, Carl. That was my first encounter with inflation and taxes, when candy bars went from a dime to twelve cents, and at that price point incurred a penny tax to boot for a total of thirteen cents! oh noes!