Yes, it's an old vending machine. I saw it at Famous Dave's in St. Paul, not far from the airport. Bill and I were stopping by last summer for food to take to my mom's. I am almost sure it's the same candy machine that was in the S.B. laundromat. In seventh grade, when I lived on Banks Blvd., I was two doors away from Sue Elam. The two of us would walk together most days, up to Kelley and back. After school we often strolled into Malmo's Drug to buy penny candy (2 pieces of licorice for 1 cent). For a nickel that spring of 1964 we could buy bubble gum that had a Beatles card inside the wrapper (still have those cards).
But, occasionally, Susie and Narta would go to the laundromat instead of Malmo's. The candy vending machine there sometimes had Forever Yours as one of the selections - a candy bar only available at Malmo's or grocery stores in the 6-bar variety pack (with Snickers and Milky Way?). But more exciting were those afternoon visits to the laundromat when, in one of the little windows of that vending machine, we saw a piece of paper with a hand-written note that said: "TAKE A CHANCE." Some days, willing to live with risk, one of us would drop a whole dime into the machine and take that chance. And, with luck, we'd get a stack of Rollos!
Update: Sue has reminded me of our other favorite "take a chance" candy bar, ZERO. Read her comment below.
1 comment:
Some of the experiences you've written about have escaped my memory, but not this one! I remember a drawer in my dresser stuffed with candy wrappers from treats consumed on our walk home. How fortunate were we to have to walk right by "downtown" or "uptown" depending on your perspective! You did forget to mention along with the thrill of getting "Rollos" there was also a chance for one of those white nougat covered bars (Zeros, maybe) which I enjoyed. As far as risk there was a great one because you could waste your dime on the dreaded "7 up" that had a chocolate covered jelly as one of the 7 pieces! I still cringe at the consistency and taste of that one. We grew up pretty sheltered and honestly, buying the Take a Chance was one of the biggest risks we took!
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