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National Lollipop Day |
July 20 is known as National Lollipop Day – a fun holiday founded by the National Confectioners Association.
What is a Lollipop?
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Lollipop Shop - Pixabay |
Definition: Lol-li-pop – a flat rounded candy on the end of a stick.
Lollipops are a type of sugar candy – usually hard candy – mounted on a stick. You eat it by sucking or licking. Lollipops are also called a lolly, a sucker, or a sticky-pop, depending on where you live.
Lollipops are available in many flavors and can be found in several shapes, as well as the usual round shape. They range in size from small candies often purchased by the bagful, to giant lollipops made by specialty candy shops.
Banks, barbershops, some stores and vendors at parades often give away this sweet treat to customers.
Little Boy Lost – a Personal Lollipop Story
When our youngest son was four years old, we went to visit the grandparents in a small Kansas town. Grandpa was a doctor and kept a large glass jar filled with lollipops in his office. Naturally we stopped by his office one day and our son, Greg, got to choose a Lollipop from the jar. The office was located one block over and two blocks up from grandpa's house.
The next morning, we were in the kitchen with Grandma, having coffee. Greg was outside on the front porch with his older brother & sister and cousin. Several workmen were laying a new sidewalk right in front and the children were all watching. We figured 3 older children could watch one 4-year-old, but we didn't figure on the adventurous little boy our youngest was. We learned later that Greg had gotten bored with watching the workman and decided, all on his own, to go over to Grandpa's office to get another lollipop. But ….. instead of walking one block over and 2 blocks up, he went 2 blocks over and started walking trying to find the doctor's office.
About 30 minutes later the other children came inside and we (naturally) asked “Where's Greg?”. They had no idea – never having seen him leave and figuring he'd gone inside the house. Now we've got panicked parents, an aunt and grandma all going in different directions looking for Greg and calling his name. About the time we figured we should call the police for help, we spotted a police car coming around the corner with a small boy standing up in the back seat. We flagged them down and re-claimed our child. Turned out they had found him standing on a corner on a downtown street – over a mile from where he started. He'd gotten lost and was crying and a kind lady had found him and called the police.
We never even had to punish him. He'd scared himself so much, we figured that was punishment enough! And he never even got his LOLLIPOP! :)
Lollipops in Pop Culture
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Image Source: Pixabay |
In the TV series Kojak (1973-1979), Telli Savalis played a lollipop-loving detective known as Lieutenant Theo Kojak.
In The Wizard of Oz (1939), Dorothy is welcomed to the Land of Oz by The Lollipop Guild armed with a giant spiral sucker.
In 1934 – In the movie Bright Eyes, Shirley Temple sang the song “On the Good Ship Lollipop”
Summary
So - on July 20 - or any day - enjoy this candy-on-a-stick!
Lollipop Day - July 20
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Lollipop Day reviewed by Wednesday Elf