Ooh yes - mint yoyos too !
And club biscuits - specially orange.
(I can still remember the song ...if you like alot of chocolate on your biscuit join our club )

My mum had a passion for walnut whips.

I alway loved minty chocolate and orange chocolate.

I bought a Mars Bar some time ago. The first thing I noticed was that it was about a third of the size I remember them being and secondly, it was really sickly.

Christmas selection boxes were always great. My mum now gets one for my kids every year and they love all the different Cadbury's stuff in them.

A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat .....................

A bit late I know, but would just like to say 'thanks' to Pat M for that wonderful youtube link. Lots more memories brought back to life.
I take it from the current state of the thread that not many members had the thrill of burning their ration books, on Bonfire Night 1954, when sweets finally came off the ration?
ciao for now,
'o nonno

Erm... no Ononno but I do love your stories. I remember becoming really concious of listening to my Great Grandma's stories in the 1980s about life in Brighton from about 1920 onwards and it was just fascinating. She was quite a character. Since then I've made an effort to listen to my grandparents too about what life was like for them around the time of the war. My Granddad had quite a sad younger life as he was younger than his older sister by about 14 years and his older brother died at Dunkirk which finally sent his poor mother over the edge after countless still births and losing two younger children to Diphtheria. It's amazing to think that wasn't so long ago and yet, I think we forget that sometimes.

I was four years old in 1954 O'Nonno so I cannot remember that wonderful day when sweet rationing stopped but it does explain why the luxury of sweets form a big part of my memories of childhood. Ny nan loved Butterkist popcorn, she didn't have any teeth but used to just suck them. Saturday evening started with a trip to the sweet shop called Pietru's (I realise now the family was Italian but we pronounced it Pie-trues), we would order quarters of whatever took our fancy from big glass jars on the shelves. I loved walnut whips and crunchies. The Pietru family owned the sweet shop and the greengrocers, the old man in the sweet shop would trim his son's rotten apples and sell them to the kids. In the summer he served icecreams, a thrupenny wafer was made with a stainless steel thing that looked like a giant old fashioned razor. My friend's Mum used to send us daily for her Mars bar (yes they were so much bigger then), it was her treat after a day's housework - A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play, I suppose people used up more calories then, a Mars a day would make me fat now.

Re the Mars bar, it's also because the ingredients were purer then, no hydrogenated fats, inverted sugars etc. plus there would have been a lot less sugar in one compared to now....It's then you realise why we "modern" mums kick up so much fuss compared to our mums and grandma's....

and possibly why kids need more time at the dentist's these days.
Shame it's so expensive here.

Speaking of dentists - and a bit off topic - October is prevention month, get a free check up - so I rang the helpline to book me and OH a free check up. Not one bleeding dentist out of thousands that are part of the programme happen to be within a 40 Km radious of my house.

uk dentist just been deep clean, one filled, one out. 45 pounds. Back in 6 months.

I used to give popping candy to my girlfriends dog when I was young. The look on the dogs face was a picture.

Would be that be the girlfriend who became the ex-wife?

No fraid not. I was young it was before I met the Zogite. She was called Dawn and we fell out over a tiff. I bumped into her 10 years after we had finished dating and she was drop dead gorgeous. Ah the mistakes we make

Live and learn - that's all we can do.

Must have been funny watching the dog "pop" though.

How many wives/partners have you had? if you don't mind me asking Lothario

Ah well I am old now! So there has been time for the odd girlfriend prior to marriage. (some were odd as well)

One ex wife, and my beautiful Italian wife. Girlfriends now let me count. there was Dawn and ...

Thank you and I cannot believe you are THAT old.
May the Force be with you X