Butter Rum

---

I was probably about six when my big brother took me downtown to buy our mother a birthday present. We had a whole quarter between us. Roaming the aisles of Woolworth’s, we saw a rack of Life Savers in a host of flavors. Each roll of eleven cost only a nickel! We knew our mother liked the butter rum best. With a penny tax on purchases from six cents up, our quarter could buy four rolls of her favorite candy.

My brother had a better idea. He went to the clerk with just one roll of Life Savers. Before I could say we wanted more, he handed over our quarter, got four nickels in change, and hurried us out of the store. A few minutes later we went back in and bought another roll. By keeping each purchase small enough to avoid tax, we eventually took home five rolls of Life Savers instead of the four I expected. As always, I was in awe of my big brother’s brilliance.

Two classic rolls of butter rum Life Savers appeared in our kitchen recently, the first I’d seen in years. An image of my long-dead mother sprang to mind, the way a taste or smell or song on the radio can evoke a memory from one’s distant past. I’ve written about her before. While the Woolworth tale features us children, it’s still more about the mother who inspired us to get her the best gift our money could buy.