Hi Joey,
A shot of B’s ice cream today – vanilla with those red jellied fish as a topping from Kiss on the Neck. It made me think of Bertha’s, a penny candy shop that used to be directly across the street. That was the first place I encountered those fish as a boy. Every kid in East Gloucester knew about Bertha’s, and you could buy actual penny candy there – a penny per piece. You would collect the candy from bins using a small basket, then bring the basket to the register, where Bertha would tally your loot with you and ring it up on and old mechanical register. She would then put your candy in a small paper bag to carry home. I could go in there with a quarter and leave a happy customer!
She also had toys, nic-nacs, ice cream and drinks too. Bertha was a kind old lady, who loved animals, kids and seemed happily married to her artist husband Ollie. Looking back, she was a pretty effective math teacher, too!
Enjoy!
~Bill O’Connor
North Shore Kid
Editors note from Joey C:
Bertha’s was a special place. Sista Felicia and I used to ride our bikes from Harriett Rd over in East Gloucester down Grapevine and to Bertha’s on Rocky Neck where we would spend the $1 a piece our mom gave us to buy penny candy. 100 pieces of candy for $1- it was like heaven.
There was also the East Gloucester Fire Barn (now closed) where the firemen would sell penny candy too and the Yarn Shop where Ciolinos barber Shop is now used to sell Penny candy as well.
Do you have a spot where you would go as a kid for Penny Candy?
Good Morning Gloucester 
Yup..we would go to The Little River Market….in West Gloucester….Mary-Janes were a favorite…and then there were the Fudgicles for 5cents…so you could buy two for 10 cents…Wow!!
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Timmy Toomy’s on Centennial Ave. The most we had was a nickel, but some candies were two for one. Poor Tim would patiently serve five or six kids vying for space over the glass-topped counter. It took forever to make up our minds. Spearmint Leaves or Nonpareils..hmmmm.
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I think Tim’s was later called Frank’s Variety if it’s the same store we’re talking about. Close to the wooden bridge side of Centennial. Hunting for the Twin Light Soda bottles to get the 5 cent deposit for some penny candy. He started to lose his patience at the end of the stores run when it came to us deciding which candy we wanted. Squirrel nuts, Sugar Daddy, Root beer barrels, Orange Slices, Swedish fish, Atomic Fireballs, Bazooka Bubble Gum, Jawbreakers, Mary Janes, Zotz, Chew Man Chew, Smarties, Mint Juleps, Pixy Stix, Licorice Wheels…
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The school bus would stop at Berthas, drop us off, we would run into the store and get our candy and then the bus would pick us up on the other side.
I remember hunting for Twin Light Soda bottles to bring to the firehouse and trade them in for a few pennies. We would tehn buy another soda and then some candy and hang out with the firemen watching TV
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I remember when my parents would drive my two brothers and me over to Rockport; we would walk down the Neck to the Country Store, which had a great assortment of penny candy. A dollar was enough to get us all crazed on sweets, from the wax bottles filled with colored sugar water, to the paper rolls with candy dots, and everything in between. The place was dark and cool and a delight to a clutch of kids who had baked in the sun all day….
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As recently as 7-8 years ago, that little convenience store next to Benjamin Moore on Railroad Ave had a selection of penny candy. Is it called Railroad? I think they had to switch to nickel candy, finally.
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What was the name of the store run by two little old ladies that used ot be across from Olivia’s at the end of Good Harbor. They were so sweet and so was the candy.
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My friends and I loved to attend Mass at St Ann’s especially because there was s penny candy store where Mamies Kitchen is now. We would pretend the flying saucer candy were the warders we were not yet allowed to receive and ‘play’ church.
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The equivalent in Manchester was Floyd’s, across from Town Hall. Penny candy, plastic toys like water guns and parachute guys, comic books and even some school supplies. Mrs. Rice was the proprietor – other kids said she was mean, but she was always friendly to me. She would even extend me credit if I were a few cents short when she tallied my bag!
Love swedish fish, btw – not for the flavor, but for the perfect texture – not too gummy, not too sticky. My mouth is watering looking at that picture! Floyd’s had both the little ones like here (in multi colors!) and the big ones, too.
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Floyd’s was my penny candy shop also. I remember getting 25-30 cents from my mom, 50 cents on special days.
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I think of Bertha’s every time I drive by it. We would walk down from Mt. Pleasant Ave. with a dime or quarter and buy all kinds of candy. I remember the expensive “buy” was the marshmallow cone for a nickel. That was a splurge! And the wax lips, candy cigarettes. Loved Bertha’s.
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The marshmallow cones were my favorite!
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Grew up on Rocky Neck and East Gloucester and had a charge account at Bertha’s when I was only 3 years old! Bertha was great to us kids. There were chimes on the door and inside the shop. The sound was unique to Bertha’s. And her shop smelled so wonderful—it was a special sweet scent. It was years later that I realized the scent was from the Frangiapani incense she sold in the store. Bertha’s was a magical place in a magical time and one of the sweetest memories I have of my childhood in Gloucester!
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It was a magical place for kids, and I remember the incense, too. You could buy the incense sticks (we called them ‘punks’) and she also sold boxes of incense cones that you could put on a plate or in an ash tray to burn it. We would buy them because the story going around was that they would keep the mosquitoes away…
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There were two places in East Gloucester. One was at the corner of Mt. Pleasant & Highland Court. The other was right outside .Gloucester Elementary. We’d stop in on our walk home from school. Get Root Beer Barrels and little dots on paper strips.
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Nelson’s Bakery on Sargent St had a glass case full of penny candy. Miss Nelson, who was also the sewing teacher at Central Grammar, was behind the counter, while her brother did the baking. They sold sour and dill pickles for a dime, too, and would actually cut one in half for me if I only had a nickel.
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I also remember walking home from 1st & 2nd grade (East Gloucester Elementary), and stopping in at the old firehouse on Mt. Pleasant Ave. The firemen would give us candy when we stopped in to say hello. Great memories.
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The kids at St. Ann School used to shop for penny candy at Higgins’ on the corner of Smith St. and Pleasant St. Later that corner store would become the Holy Cow Ice Cream Shop. There was always a crowd of kids before school in the morning around the penny candy counter. There was a great selection and it took us forever to spend our 5 or 10 cents. Good memories!
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Yes… Centerville Country Store.. but way on the Cape…. but still fun memories of that place and the store still exists…. but I’m sure no longer penny candy though lol.
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Lived between Good Harbor & Long Beach….used to go to Mamie’s….
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My friends and I loved Bertha’s, although the way we said it was “Berther’s.” She was a very nice lady, and I can still hear the chimes that hung on the door. I also remember the smell of the store, which was of candies of all sorts mixed together. We would buy Star Wars cards there, along with the wicker baskets full of candy. We would ride our bikes over from Ledge Road and Mt. Pleasant Avenue.
We also used to take Twin Lights bottles to the Fire Barn and trade them for the deposits. The firemen had that little closet filled with candy that you could buy. And yes, this was in their kitchen, and they would often be sitting around the table watching TV.
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