I love gummy candy "fruit slices." These beauties were purchased at "Polly's" in Whitinsville, MA. Polly's is a tiny store in the front portion of a house on a residential street. It's run by an old man, whose name may or may not be "Polly." There is no sign on the store so I don't know how else that name might have come into use. He lives in the back of the building and will appear out from a little door upon hearing the bells ring when you enter the store. In junior high we loved Polly's because we could walk there after school and buy loose candy. Oh, the independence, the sugar!! I must say, Polly himself hasn't aged a day, and appears to be in much better spirits now than he was in 1997--as a middle schooler I remember him being rather grumpy.
On Sunday he was happy to give me my choice of fruit slice color and put them in a little plastic baggie for me.
This store intrigues me. On the spare shelves you can find about 2 loaves of bread, some suspect potatoes, a few rolls of toilet paper, a mostly empty ice cream freezer, some Spaghetti-O's, and UFO candy. I'm curious how he operates this little store--it appears he is doing absolutely nothing to increase his patronage or push sales. There is no sign save for the reversible "OPEN/CLOSED" paper in the window. Does he have a license to sell? Is this residential street zoned for commercial purposes too? Is he on the books? Does the sale of Sour Patch Kids pay the rent for the space? How many times has the unmanned store been a victim of shoplifting before Polly has a chance to respond to the bells? What kind of profits does he make? Does he just love the interaction of people coming into his quaint little shoppe? Can I do this someday too?
Mostly, I'm just thankful for mysterious oddities like Polly's, that provide some relief from the straightforward franchise monotony dominating the rest of the landscape. They spark the imagination.
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