Ah, the 10p mix, that was a school day dilemma. Go for quantity and splurge on Mojos, two for a penny, or double up on 1p Black Jacks or Fruit Salad (this was the only fruit available in my town until 1993 when the first apple arrived and the Coop fruit and veg section started to be filled by something other than unusually shaped pieces of a coal). Assorted gobstoppers, bon-bons, cola and pineapple cubes, cola bottles (fizzy and flat), flying saucers, white faux-choc mice were available for a penny. Upgrade to 2p and you got the blue bubblegum stuff that tastes like no grape I've ever met, giant gobstoppers, licorice string, and other concoctions of gelatine.
The alternative was quality. The Curly Wurly rocked in a 7p, or a Chupa Chups at 4p (some vfm chewage there). Blowing the entire 7p in one go was a big deal.
The best plan was to maximize your spread and quantity and quality and save the Curly Wurly till Friday. You could get Milky Ways too, but they were – for some reason – regarded as girl food. Things were more complex in summer, since you'd need to figure in 2p or 5p ice pops.
Later, we discovered that it was perilously easy just to nick pick n mix from Woolies, as the counter was by the front door.
