It started innocently enough. Nuclear family from Southern California detonated in the late fifties.

Our mother has never cared much for sweets, but our father has a sweet tooth. We would stock up on candy for road trips or sneak a sweet while running errands around town.

And despite our mother's lack of interest, heck, this was the baby boom, there were plenty of sweets to go round. I can remember classic candy like Bit-O-Honey, Sugar Babies, and Good 'n Plenty from the earliest years of my youth.

When we moved from West Covina to Diamond Bar in the late sixties, our new neighborhood had its own private club with swimming pool, tennis court, and snack bar. Especially in summer, we would hang around there all day, so were given some change for buying candy at the snack bar. I particularly remember red licorice laces, which were cheap, amusing, and tasty, and the Hollywood candy bars... Pay Day, Milk Shake, and Big Time... which you could buy frozen, making them doubly exotic and delicious. Although they were purchased maybe five years later, the Hollywood wrappers in my collection immediately take me back to the Diamond Point Swim & Racquet Club.

Click here to read more