Having a hard candy Christmas in old-time Phoenix


If you've never heard the expression "hard candy Christmas", it's not surprising. It's an old-fashioned term, and it means being so poor at Christmastime that the only thing that parents could afford for the children was some candy, and the least expensive candy at that. I've been lucky - times may have been hard for me, or my family at times, but I've never had a hard candy Christmas. And you've been lucky too, this will take a bit of imagination, but let's try.

When I was a kid, all of the old people had some type of hard candy that they kept in a decorative container which we kids just ignored. Our tastes never ran to hard candy, we preferred chocolates, or any other type of candy - you know, the kind that goes stale if you don't eat it right away. Hard candy lasts just about forever, and that's part of the reason that it was so cheap.

Of course kids don't know, and often even after they grow up to become adults they never give it a second thought. And Christmas is supposed to be a happy time, filled with gifts, and giving, which isn't easy when you're just barely getting by financially.

I'd like to think that around Christmastime that some store owners in old-time Phoenix would throw in some hard candy when they saw someone who was counting their pennies just to buy the most basic stuff for their family. 

I'll be fine and dandy.
Lord, it's like a hard candy Christmas!

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