Turkish Taffy

World Market, a retail chain that sells goods from around the world and the U.S. is having a sale on retro candy and drinks. When I saw their advertisement in my morning newspaper I had to check it because one of my childhood favorite (and still today when I can find it) candy treat, Bonomo Turkish Taffy, was pictured in the ad. Alas! I bought a stack of my favorite vanilla, a chocolate and a banana Bonomo as well as some other candy I ate as a child. Those occasional retreat treats are as good for the sole as the tummy.

Turkish Taffy is not really taffy, but is technically more a nougat. It is also not Turkish nor anything related to Turkey, but instead was created before World War II in the Bonomo factory. From the late 1940s to the late 60's it was made into candy-bar size which the purchaser would whack against a hard surface to break it into more bite-sized pieces. Since the pieces are both chewy and slow-melting in the mouth, it's a favorite for the someone who wants to savor their taffy for awhile. A Turkish  taffy bar still cost 5¢ in the 1960s but what I bought at World Market was one dollar. Hmmmm When I opened and cracked one of my Bonomo, let it get soft and chewed the heavenly treat as memories of my childhood floated in my mind.

It's amazing how those kinds of stimulus response situations unclogs the memory. When I was a boy the neighborhood kids used to ride on our bike to the neighborhood drug store that sold Bonomo and various other kinds of slab and bar taffy. We usually ripped open the wrappers on the bars and ate them on the way home or stopped by one of the old 45 record stores and listened to the latest single of what some called "rock and roll" in the booths that customers could use to play prospective buys.

As I write that more memories of my childhood come forth, and I thank that Bonomo Turkish Taffy for open the door to them. No doubt you also have memories triggered by the re acquaintance to some thing or event from your earlier days. To escape our present reality and be young again we must always have old memories to help bring even better new hopes.