LYON'S MAID ORANGE FLAVOUR

"Lyons Maid" brand and orange flavour were always in short supply at
Betty's shop. My brother and I devoured them and even mastered the
well-nigh impossible act of removing the paper wrapper (Betty's fridge
always needed defrosting) without ripping it and having it adhere to
the overfrozen lolly.

The lollies were delectable. One day, my grandmother, who lived with
us, chanced upon one and became completely "hooked," much to my
parents' dismay.

Granny went through a six-month addiction, during which she would eat
as many as (we fetched them) five lollies a day on school holidays and
weekends, and, two a day on regular school days (slipping money to us
behind our parents' backs and eating them, also, behind our parents'
backs).

They did their best to discourage her un-granny-like behaviour, but to
no avail. One evening, while fetching a lolly, I hung aimlessly around
Betty's shop until things had quieted down and asked her advice about a
birthday gift idea for the following morning.

"Why not a slip and pantie set? I have them here, they just come in.
Nylon? Silk? Pink! I think I can guess your mother's size...."

I blushed profusely, forked our money out, all in half crowns, and
fled, in relief. The slip and panties were the culmination of long
years of uninspired, birthday gifts (oven gloves, dishtowels or
slippers) to my mother.

Matching slip and panties. That was our staple birthday gift for the
next four years, until my mother casually hinted that she was
well-stocked up in underwear.