Bill Bodden's Blog - Posts Tagged "hallowe-en"
The Sweetest Season
These are all contemporary "brands." When I was a kid, they used made-up, look-alike brands to copy actual cigarette packaging.
With Hallowe'en bearing down upon us, in past years it's always been time to think about candy. For T and I, thoughts run along the lines of "what can we get to give out that's good, but that isn't so tempting for us to eat?" The problem, of course, is that we realize we really need to buy two bags of whatever we're giving out to insure there's enough left for trick-or-treaters on the magic day.
When I was a kid, candy seemed to have infinite variety, and equally infinite promise of delights to enjoy. The kids in the neighborhood used to ride our bikes the four or five blocks to one of several tiny, neighborhood grocery stores and spend a quarter on some sweet treats. There's still a vast assortment of candy available, but many favorite brands of yore are gone, or have changed enough to be totally different. There are some candy types that I never liked, and some I've grown less fond of over the years, but my sweet tooth remains.
Weirdly, Candy Cigarettes were a thing that existed. Insidiously preparing kids to become smokers later in life, I loved the crunchy, powdery texture and they reminded me of Necco Wafers, which I also liked. The flavor didn't have any variety, though, so if I wanted the mouth-feel that they provided, I generally opted for Necco Wafers instead.
Among my favorites were...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2020/10/06/the-...
Friends Like These
I've been pondering the nature of friendship lately. In these turbulent times, it seems that virtual connection is pretty much all we're going to get without risking the health and safety of others. It's unsatisfying, but seeing people's faces on a computer or phone screen and chatting with them is vastly preferable to attending their funerals via Zoom or Skype.
This lack of direct contact - no hugs, handshakes, or arms around shoulders - is depressing to me. I need human touch. I grew up in a home with very old-fashioned parents. Hugs from my dad were exceptionally rare, and those we did have felt stiff and wooden, without much emotion. Why this is so happens to be another story for another time; suffice to say that I learned...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2020/10/27/frie...
This lack of direct contact - no hugs, handshakes, or arms around shoulders - is depressing to me. I need human touch. I grew up in a home with very old-fashioned parents. Hugs from my dad were exceptionally rare, and those we did have felt stiff and wooden, without much emotion. Why this is so happens to be another story for another time; suffice to say that I learned...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2020/10/27/frie...
