Candy Stripe Paper Bags

It is easy to remember with great fondness particular parts of childhood, a simple example is a trip to the local sweet shop.

There was always a 'Lacies sweetshop' or a 'Mr Jones' sweetshop' as we called them, nearby. There was a gentle tinkling bell as you pushed open the door full of excitement with a sudden need for sugar, when you were greeted by a wonderful sickly sweet aroma. a mixture of sugar and fruits. Eyes were immediately drawn to the huge and towering shelves, behind the simple counter, that were brimming with jars and jars full of sweets. Lovely lovely sweets! Any Childs idea of heaven!

The little, dare I say it 'sweet' old lady or man would take your order

'a quarter of sherbet lemons, and a quarter of humbugs please'

And weigh it out on the Avery scale pan, and then they'd pour them, expertly into a little perfectly sized paper bag, no matter how many sweets you bought, they always had the perfect size bag. If you were lucky you got one off those pink candy striped paper bags.