Once a sweet shop kid … always a sweet shop kid …

A Nostalgic Trip Back to the Penny-Sweet Era in Stockbridge High Street, Hampshire

Do you, like me, have early sweet shop memories ...? For many of us, the weekly visit to buy sweets was practically a rite of passage. It didn’t matter whether you had 10p or a whole 20p burning a hole in your pocket – you marched in with all the excitement of … well … a kid in a sweet shop!

My own ritual started with a shiny 10p piece pressed firmly into my palm. Ten pence! A small fortune by child standards and enough back then for a tasty haul. I would routinely choose:

🍬         white chocolate mice

🍬         cola cubes

🍬         jazzies (chocolate buttons covered in sprinkles)

🍬         foam bananas

🍬         pink shrimps

If my teeth weren’t wobbling at the time – a key consideration – I’d even risk a chocolate eclair or two. My brothers, meanwhile, operated on the exact opposite end of the sweet spectrum. While I curated a lightweight bag, they preferred the heavy artillery:  hulking hauls of pear drops, lemon bon bons and chocolate limes.

I can remember the sound of the metal scoop clinking against the glass jars and the soft thud as the sweets dropped into their paper bags. They were white and small, but some shops had pink-and-white striped ones. Even now, the sight of those bags takes me back to the penny sweet era. But to me, sweet shops should feel nostalgic and evoke memories of end-of-school rewards, bribery tools and Saturday rituals.

Sweet shops began appearing on high streets in the late 1800s. By the early 1900s, they were a staple of everyday life. In Stockbridge, confectionary is known to have been sold for more than a century in Jeane's, Barton's, CO-OP, Whiffen's, Higgin's and Mrs Mowatt's Sweet Shop which later became the Caravan Café^[1].

View of the Stockbridge High Street and the Caravan Cafe by Walter Scott - by kind permission of Geoff Merritt

Geoff Merritt (right) selling sweet treats at the Caravan Cafe, Stockbridge - formerly Mrs Mowatt's Sweet Shop. By kind permission of Geoff Merritt.

And this wonderful tradition continues today, carried forward by Mokaya Cocoa.

We stock all of your childhood favourites, alongside a selection of hand-picked Belgian chocolates. Step inside you’ll find rows of glass jars filled with traditional favourites: chocolate limes, chewy bon bons, liquorice twists, aniseed balls and more. We never tire of seeing children pointing at their favourite treats and grown-ups pretending to buy sweets “for the kids”, couples choosing chocolates for a date night and lovely locals nipping in for their favourites.

We also sell luxury boxes of chocolates from brands like Charbonnel & Walker, meaning you can find something really special without travelling further afield. We also offer click-and-collect shopping too – so you can save on postage!

Now back to those memories … the paper bags, the sherbet clouds, the flying saucers that vanish on your tongue – they never really go away. Sometimes they just need a little bit of a nudge. So, pop in, pick a treat you haven’t had in years and let those memories unlock themselves. We’d love to see you soon.

Because once a sweet shop kid… always a sweet shop kid!

Libby Dawson

^[1] You can read more about the high street’s history in Geoff Merritt’s book A Glimpse of Stockbridge Past.