The ways of a Black Southern Belle’s grandma are many as food policy lawyer Pepper Roussel expresses in this memory. “My grandma kept peppermints predominantly in her church purse for those marathon Baptist Sunday mornings. From Sunday school to service that seemed as eternal as the afterlife itself, the crunchy sound of the wrapper disrobing the starlite mint ushered in at least another hour of preaching and kid boredom.”
Whether grandma lived Down South or Up North, one can only imagine how keeping hard candies in her purse and in a cut glass candy dish in her living room became a universal practice of Black grandmas. Still, it is a practice, especially around the Christmas holidays.
One of the first lessons we learn about Grandma’s candy is to identify each by sight and taste. The second lesson involves learning how to spit out the candy we don’t like into a tissue or back into its wrapper (and throw it in the trash) lest you want your little hand tapped for placing wet candy onto a pew or on her good furniture.
According to family therapist Jennifer Johnson there was another important lesson to learn.
“The clear heavy glass candy dish with the lid was tricky. If you knew you should not be going into it, you had to be stealth. It was difficult to sneak because someone would ALWAYS hear the lid being removed or being replaced.”
In case you want to replicate Grandma’s candy game or walk down memory lane, the holiday season is a great time to talk about the candy. Let’s begin with these old standards.
Do you know the difference between the red striped candy and the green striped candy? Sometimes the flavor is the same but generally the red is peppermint and the green is spearmint. Their technical name is Starlites or Starlights. Grandma would put out the chalky, soft peppermint puffs on special occasions. (They just melt in your mouth.)
At Christmas time you probably saw the ribbon candy, which was generally peppermint flavored. Every now and then that green could be spearmint or lime.
Only amateurs underestimate these cute little yellow discs. Maybe you thought it was lemon or banana or orange flavored only to find out it’s butterscotch flavored.
If Grandma was willing to spend a little extra, she could buy the cinnamon discs, which were spicy and hot. She could also put out the anise squares (or anisettes), which were licorice flavored. They are a Christmas favorite. Maybe she put the Werther’s out for company and kept the bag hidden from little hands.
Speaking of Werther hard caramel candy, there were the soft caramels in square form and Goetz caramel creams. But Brach’s Royals in caramel, chocolate and toffee were also fun to eat.
Do you remember the loose, unwrapped candies that came in a Christmas tin that would ultimately become a sewing kit or hold unmatched buttons? If so, did you like them or were you like Nancy Lewis who said, “I remember the Christmas candy. I think I liked the ones that tasted orange. There was a pink one but I don’t know the flavor. It grosses me out now to think about those unwrapped candies and everybody’s nasty fingers.”
Last but not least is Kathryn Beich buttermints. Did you sell these for your school or church or scout troop? If you did, Grandma was probably your best customer. Did you take pride when she put either the butter mints or chocolate Katydids out for holiday guests? We hope so.
And we hope you follow in her footsteps with some candy in your purse and in your candy dish this Christmas.
Robin Caldwell
Robin Caldwell is the blogger behind freshandfriedhard.com and academic researcher focusing on Black history, heritage and culture. Public historian primarily in Black American historical foodways: antebellum and regional.
Follow Me:
Comments
Robin Caldwell is the blogger behind freshandfriedhard.com and academic researcher focusing on Black history, heritage and culture. Public historian primarily in Black American historical foodways: antebellum and regional.
