I Came Back to Australia, and the Milk Bars Were Gone.

[elleng]

Our critic recalls a childhood when these stores were around every corner. Things, sadly, have changed.

'It was the sweet siren song of the milk bar that led me, at 7 years old, to run away from school.

When the last bell rang, my best friend, Sarah, opened her small, sweaty palm to reveal four gleaming 50-cent pieces. We calculated all the wondrous things we could buy with two whole dollars at the milk bar, that once-ubiquitous staple of Australian life that is one part corner store, one part candy shop and sometimes a deli or news agent or neighborhood social club.

Sarah and I pushed through the school gates by our small selves and turned toward the milk bar. “Run away” is perhaps the wrong phrase, since we planned to walk home, but the pursuit of candy pulled us well off course. An adult found us some hours later strolling contentedly in the wrong direction, mouths sticky with sweets.

We were punished for wandering off into the world alone seeking lollies, but it was worth it. It was my first experience as an independent consumer, my first purchase made without the watchful eye of an adult tainting the experience.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/dining/milk-bars-australia.html?

[saidsimplesimon]

1. Loved this, reminds of

an old drug store, near the Fisher Theater in Detroit, the 50's. They had a soda bar and sold the best orange pineapple ice cream of my memory. I feel the same way about the days when Hersey's sold solid quality, milk chocolate blocks.

[BigmanPigman]

2. The only "milk bar" I ever heard of was in the film

"A Clockwork Orange". Your version sounds a lot nicer.