KING FOR A DAY

Back in the 1930's, even a penny would go a long way. There was never any talk about eliminating the penny from our US monetary system, because you could actually buy things for a penny. Let me illustrate. A block away from my grammar school, Public School #33, in Rochester, New York, was a candy/confectioner's store. The store was on the bottom floor of a house. I guess the people that ran the store lived over it in their "flat" (a floor or story in a building, an apartment on one floor). The term "flat" is seldom used today.

A person would climb the two or three wooden steps to be able to open the door to the candy store. The store did sell other items, but to us grammar school kids, it was always called the "candy store".

Once inside, on the left you would find those movie machines that worked by turning a handle and peering into the machine through an opening, covered by glass, that would accommodate the eyes. The machine did not work until you put a penny into the slot, and the machine would cut off when your time was up.

The candy display was under a curved glass that covered the surface upon which the candy was located. There were penny candies and nickel candies. The penny candies consisted of green mint-flavored candies shaped like a mint leaf, Mary Janes -- a peanut butter filled taffy about 1/2" by 1" by 1/4" within a wrapper. There were jawbreakers -- small chocolate-covered caramels (different from today's round, hard jawbreakers) about 1" square and 1/8" thick (ten for a penny). There were nickel bars -- Baby Ruth's, Butterfingers, Clark bars, Hershey bars, Bit O' Honey bars, Powerhouse bars, and Three Musketeers. There were others, as well. Some are no longer available.

Anyway, one day I happened to be in my parents' bedroom in the flat over my parents' drugstore. They were both working there. I happened to see a dime on my parents' dresser. "What was a dime dong there?" I asked myself. "I'll bet they'll never miss it." So, mustering a bit of courage, I took the dime and put it in my pocket. I probably felt a pang of guilt, but neither parent said anything about it. The next day after school had let out, I called some of my chums over and told them I was going to buy enough candy for us all.

We headed to the candy store and went inside. The best buy was the jawbreakers -- ten for a penny -- so I bought a dime's worth. A cool one hundred jawbreakers were put in a paper bag for me. When we got outside, I said, "Okay, fellas, hold your hands out." I distributed enough jawbreakers to each individual to make them happy and possibly sick from eating so much candy. Along the way home, we spotted a trellis that apparently had been thrown away. The bribed friends said, "Harv, why don't you let us carry you on the trellis." I did not argue, so the recipients of my generosity lifted me up after I sat on the trellis. There I was, being carried home as would befit a king -- at least for that day.