Go to Cracker Barrel for all the old time candy and gum. They still have Black Jack, Clove and some others. They also have Sky Bars, my favorite candy.
My mom was one of those operators who worked the night shift all by herself in a little block building in town. She had a couch to lay down on when there were no calls, which was mostly all night. People went to bed early to get up at the crack of dawn to do real work. We lived on a farm and if we didn't grow it, we didn't eat it. I remember asking for a bologna sandwich one night and my dad just laughed. At dinner that night was a huge steak covering the platter along with every yummy thing you could get out of a garden. Air conditioning was the huge shade tree in the front yard and opening all the windows at night to get the breeze going through the house. Riding your bicycle to town 2 miles away just to go to the Tasty Freeze was something fun to do in the summer. You didn't ever complain about being bored in the summer because there were field of beans to be picked and canned. Mom usually did at least 100 jars of those every summer. Along with corn, tomatoes, sauerkraut pickles, every kind of jam you can imagine. We ate good in those days at home and never for a minute thought we were poor. I wish my kids could have had that upbringing. I loved every minute of it. Of course all my friends had parents who had been married for years and years and we didn't know much about divorce. And yes I am older than dirt and remember all those things on the list. Thanks for the memories.