The Candy Department

The Candy Department. .

"I shopped in there for candy when we would walk to the Presbyterian church for weekly choir practice after school.", "My friends and I would walk all the way from Adams Street to the store just to buy candy!", "I remember when my mom worked the candy counter and I could go in with a nickel and get some candy.", "I was all about getting that big bag of popcorn!", "They even had Chocolate covered ants and grasshoppers.", "I loved the candy counter, especially chocolate covered creams shaped like a Hershey's Kiss and the lunch counter where i would go with friends on Saturdays and have burgers, fries and lemonade in tall soda glasses."

, New Your Times Jean Condit , April 29, 1956 , "In case any one wonders what happened to the college boys who ate live goldfish back in the forties, the answer might be right at hand. It's possible--allowing for the refinement of the plate that comes with maturity--that they have gone on to become conspicuous consumers of fried grasshoppers. According to T.G. Loryn, a local importer, more than 150,000 cans of these crispy cocktail accompaniments have sold in this country in the last seven months--most of them to men… One reason for the Phenomenon is that grasshoppers are accessibly priced… The gag, of course, is to serve them… along with more conventional tidbits such as fried bacon rind, which they resemble somewhat in taste… experts agree there's a real demand these days for party foods that are new, exotic, "different." And once initiated, many Americans are surprised to find themselves quit won over by foods they wouldn't--wittingly--have eaten on a bet--fried bees, chocolate-covered ants…", as told by Robin Coffman in 2013 , In the mid 1950's - Wheni was in high school i worked at Newberry's candy counter where i was trained to pass out samples of ht roasted cashews., "Yes! they're crispy they're crunchy, they'll make you feel high Hi! Hi! Hi! Yes, that famous little curved nut from India, land of the Maharajahs., Shipped 3500 miles in Mahogany cases… they're a little tired… but umm… boy are they good.", And they were good. they came in a little striped bag., "Yumm, boy are they good!", They were oiled and salted with really fine salt. Back in those days they were a real treat., My memories of Selby Building hay day go back to the 1950's when it was known as the J. J. Newberry Five and Dime store. I began working there in 1956 when the store was being transformed from a Five and Dime to a variety department store on two levels., Many employees from other Newberry stores were brought in to help modernize and upgrade it. Most of us would come to work early in order to have time to sit at the well known lunch counter and have a cup of coffee and a grilled pecan roll, for which the cooks were famous., I was able to work with a man who was in charge of store decorating. What a thrill that was! When the store was finished, I was to hold many jobs before leaving. I decorated the front windows, decorated Easter eggs, made signs for merchandise, clerked on the candy and fresh nuts counter, actually roasting the nuts, and finally ended up in the Credit Dept. I quit in 1958 when I moved to Columbus to work., I have fond memories of my work days there and am reminded of them whenever I pass 'Ol Selby'. Dianne Peffer Wallace