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Kids love the sweet appeal of Aisle 4

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By CINDY LANGE-KUBICK / Lincoln Journal Star

Monday, Oct 13, 2008 - 12:46:59 am CDT

At the very last Ben Franklin in town, in a store that staked its reputation on small things — bobby pins and embroidery thread, plastic flowers and rubber spatulas — there is an aisle that seems to stretch forever, like a rainbow made of sugar.

Aisle 4 is no small thing.

It is big magic to small children, and bigger ones, too.

Story Photo
Tristan Burroughs, 6, picks out candy at Ben Franklin's near 70th and Vine St. on Friday, October 10, 2008. (Jacob Hannah)

Friday afternoon, Courtney Kuhn is lost in the candy aisle. She’s in town from Kansas, visiting colleges and staying with her grandparents.

The grandparents who once lived just a block from this strip mall at 70th and Vine.

The grandparents who would give her $2 just for Aisle 4.

She’d spend her money on 200 Tootsie Rolls. “Whenever we’d come up, we’d always come here right away.”

She still does.

And they still have plastic bowls on the second shelf, bowls made just for filling with sweet things.

Pixy Stix. Gummi hamburgers. Slo Pokes. Sugar Daddies. Sixlets. Smarties.

Wax lips and Blow Pops and Lemonheads and candy necklaces and every variety of candy bar in the known world.

Enough gum to blow a bubble the size of Neptune.

Enough licorice to stretch to the moon.

Two girls from Mickle Middle School stand in the rainbow, unable to commit.

Hubba Bubba? Sour Patch Kids? Zotz? Fizzy Pop Rocks?

The girls ponder. They pass eight bins of Laffy Taffy and 11 bins of Frooties. They pass bite-sized Bit-O-Honey, chocolate coins, the ever-popular candy cigarettes.

They call them “candy stix” now, owner Carol Schoenleber says.

Aisle 4 is always busy, she says. After school. Saturdays. In the summer for swimming pool treats.

Kids learn to count here, emptying their bowls of the penny candy that Carol recently, reluctantly, doubled in price.

Friday, a shaggy-haired boy zips in carrying a skateboard.

A girl clutches three tiny cans, filled with candy that tastes like pop, eyeing the chocolate Skittles.

“They’re bad,” warns skateboard boy, grabbing three Fun Dips.

“My mom loves these,” he says.

Another mom waits, baby in a carrier, three of her seven older children walking Aisle 4, dazed by the decisions.

“I did this when I was little,” Mary Burroughs says. “I’d get a dish and fill it up with my favorite candy.”

Those days, she had a hankering for Jolly Ranchers and Sweet Tarts and candy cigarettes.

She still likes the candy aisle.

A grown-up kid, her eyes on the chocolate.

Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.


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great memories wrote on October 13, 2008 6:10 am:
" I have great memories of BF. On the way home from school we would stop and get our penny candy, usually zots, jolly ranchers and sweet tarts. My kids love to go when we are in town. My mom started taking them when they were little. They are now in high school but still enjoy going there and so do I. "

 BF fan wrote on October 13, 2008 6:52 am:
" I love Bennies!! Ever since I was a child, it has always been the place you could find everything you need. I would bring my allowance and while my Mom shopped for grocerys at Holmes Grocery store on N 48th, I would run down the street to Ben Franklin's. I'm so glad to see the store expanding and staying with us. "

 Julie wrote on October 13, 2008 7:07 am:
" I hope this never goes away. I too was one of those children who adored the candy aisle in Ben Franklin, but in the store in McCook. I remember when I moved to Lincoln and discovered the store here, that was the first thing I checked out and pondered when I went inside! I hope many more generations to come can enjoy this memory as well... "

 Great Memory wrote on October 13, 2008 7:40 am:
" I remember going into the Havelock Ben Franklin and being so excited when mom would let us grab a bowl and pick candy. I remember the time I found five dollars on the sidewalk (when five dollars bought you A LOT) - I was supposed to go to the babysitters from school but the draw of Ben Frankline and that five dollar bill was just too great! I got a boatload of candy and stood in a corner for a good hour, but it was worth it! I need to take my kids in to experience something wonderful like this that only leaves good memories! "

 Betty wrote on October 13, 2008 10:07 am:
" We've moved to another state, and I miss Ben Franklin sooo much ! No matter what I was looking for, they had it or could get it for me. I spent many hours shopping and looking there ! Great place, great staff, reat store. May you have many more years there. See you the next time I'm in Lincoln. "

 Candy Demon wrote on October 13, 2008 7:50 pm:
" I have always loved the penny candy. As a person whom is in his 20's, I still do love the penny candy. Thanks to B.F. we can still have this joy!!! hope that when I have kids I too can take them there for the penny candy. "

 The days of yesteryear wrote on October 13, 2008 11:55 pm:
" What a great stroll down memory lane. I'm approaching 40 now, but as a child I use to go to the BF in Havelock all the time. Aside from Patsies over there, BF was THE place to get your candy. On the way to the pool, the way to the library, home from school or just because you had a sugar monkey on your back. 50 cents doesn't buy much these days, but back then it was like Halloween night every time you went. "

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