When I was a young girl, it was a treat to go to the store on Saturday afternoon. The best part of the trip was always the visit to at the candy counter at the “ten-cent store,” which was Kresge’s. The candy counter was a rectangular counter that we could walk around to see all of the bulk candy in the bins behind the glass. This was before the invention of digital scales ,but they were actuallyprice computing scales. The saleslady behind the candy counter would scoop out our choice of candy and drop it into the bowl on the scale. Then the needle would swing over to the weight of the candy. Under the weight was a total price for each per-pound price. The saleslady would then dump the candy into a small white paper bag and hand it to my mom.

These Saturday shopping trips would come in the late afternoon, after our mom washed my sister’s and my hair. She would dress us up in a cute little dress, and my dad would drive us to the shopping area. She loved for others to see us. Often, people in the store would comment on our shiny blonde hair, and she felt pride in having two darling daughters.

In the store, she would let us “go look at the toys.” Mom was very strict about us not touching the toys, but we still loved to go off by ourselves and see what we could see. To ensure we didn’t touch anything, she told us to keep our hands behind our backs. To this day, I find myself shopping with my hands behind my back, although now I touch everything. I don’t remember ever feeling a great desire to have everything I saw. I was just content to look. Occasionally she would buy some little trinket such as a bottle of bubbles or paperdoll set.

While we were looking at the toys, she would be not far away, doing some looking herself and buying what she needed. The ten-cent store was full of interesting things to look at, from sewing notions to kitchen implements to handkerchiefs. When she was done with her purchases, she would come to retrieve us.

Then it would be time to visit my favorite department, the candy counter. The candy counter had a lot of different kinds of bulk candy. There were things like orange slices and coconut chews, but we liked the chocolate best. Sometimes it would be M&Ms, sometimes it would be the flat round chocolates with the white sprinkles, but usually she would choose our favorite: bridge mix. We liked to have all those different kinds of candy to pick from. I liked soft ones, my sister liked peanuts, and my dad preferred the caramels. Mom usually bought twenty-five cents’ worth, a good amount for a Saturday evening treat.

When the saleslady handed us the bag, we would walk out of the store, where we would meet Daddy, who would then drive us home so Mom could cook Saturday supper.