I’m sure there was some kind of gum rule, but I can’t remember it.  The one rule I remember very clearly is that we were not allowed under any circumstances to buy or eat any kind of candy cigarettes.  My Dad lost his father to lung cancer when he was just 7 years old and he spoke very passionately about this prohibition.  I also remember that there was a candy store in the mall called “Candy Time” that sold gum in the shape of a cigarette rolled in white paper that you could buy for five cents a stick and that if you blew on the end of the stick a puff of white flour would come out the other side.  I remember being very tempted to buy that gum as it was the least expensive thing in the entire candy store (the store only consisted of a long wrap around counter with a cash register in the middle).  Unfortunately, I am also pretty confident that at one time I did buy that candy and in my mind’s eye I see a picture of my Dad, more sad than angry and very disappointed. 

Now that I think about it as an adult, the idea of candy cigarettes is quite appalling—how did candy makers get away with it?!