In the Bag for Under $10 at Woolworth's

For just under 10 bucks in 1965, a bag full of merchandise from Woolworth's would cure your sweet tooth, upset stomach and headache and deep you fresh as a baby's behind, moisturized and coiffed with clean teeth.

Oh, and if you wanted to get fancy, you could throw in another 20 bucks or so for a new wool blend braided rug and a bag of fresh roasted cashews.

Save for the braided rug, in fact, any item in the featured 1965 Woolworth's sale ad from the Red Bank Register could be bought with a dollar and you'd still have change for the gum ball machine or a ride on the horse or mini ferris wheel at the supermarket. Yeah, remember those?

Yes, the ad boasted items from two pounds of candy, or, as they called it, a "Ton 'o' Candy," for a dollar to Crest toothpaste to brush away the chocolate for 33 cents.

Seems that staying well-groomed was a lot cheaper back in the day, too. Ammens Powder was only 33 cents as well, and even Listerine was less than $1 at a whopping 63 cents.  

Nowadays if you want to smell sweet and feel fresh, it can cost you hundreds. Heck, it can cost you the 10 bucks you would have spent for a hefty bag of Woolworth's toiletries to simply NOT smell.

Hey, the highest priced item on the toiletries list was Ozon Hair Spray for 93 cents. Huh? Don't remember that one. Add an e to the end and it pretty much explains what hairsprays can do to the environment — eating the ozone away.

Aqua Net, though, is always good for lacquering your hair style, if you wanna call it that. Hey, the stuff is an old make-up artist's best buddy. It's the only hair spray that works to keep teased hair very high for character roles and it's also a great bug spray. Yup, it's true. Blast a bee or annoying fly with that and it'll die from trying to bear the weight of the sticky stuff turned thick laquer on its wings.

Headache? Anacin for 83 cents. Whatever became of Anacin. My grandmother ate it like the two pounds of candy for a buck. She swore it cured all. Maybe it did. She died at 93 and was in the hospital but twice in her lifetime. Then again, giving birth on a bail of hay was common in those days. Pain? Anacin.

Thinking about inflation can make you nuts. And sometimes you just feel like a nut — cashews for 59 cents, anyone?

What was your favorite basic toiletry to buy at a bargain from the five and dime stores, as they used to call them, like Woolworth's.