While we may recognize gourmet lollipops as simply tasty treats that calm us and get us through the day, they are – perhaps more importantly – a symbol of innocence, of a time in our lives when things were a lot simpler, when dreams seemed to dance in front of our eyes and they seemed so real that we can touch and grab them and hold onto them forever.
That attitude is nice to have and lollipops remind us of that, but sometimes we’re reminded of the loss of innocence too, that things change and time moves on cruelly. Such as the case with the recent announcement that Toys “R” Us will be closing kids superstore FAO Schwarz in mid-July.
In this Wall Street Journal article, Ralph Gardner Jr. reminisces about FAO Schwarz and while he talks a lot about toys (of course!), he also waxes poetic about candy. He writes, “In more recent years, I’ve been FAO Schwarz on the ground floor at regular intervals to stock up on overpriced penny candy.” While the candy is no different from other stores in the city, Gardner describes the candy as “the remnants of fairy dust on the forest floor of my distant childhood.” See? There’s power to candy.
The closing of FAO Schwarz forces Gardner down a rabbit hole of memories and he ponders the nature of a Great Depression-era ballad and how that song inspired his mother to commission a lollipop tree for him and his siblings. His memory of childhood is a lollipop tree, a sea of confectionary goodness – and that’s what FAO Schwarz 
means to him or, rather, what it stirred inside his soul. The article is a powerful piece of writing and we recommend reading it in full.
In short, there’s power to candy, especially gourmet lollipops, so next time you’re holding one, think of all the good memories from your childhood and let us know what they are!