Poor in the 80's: A tale of Food Stamp Nostalgia

Some of my favorite moments are those when I can sit around and laugh while discussing hilarious experiences of growing up poor in the 80's.

Remember food stamps?  I'm not talking about the card based EBT system that makes it difficult to differentiate between food stamps and a debit card. I'm talking about good old fashioned food stamps. Given in books and often acquired from appreciative neighbors for $.30 on the dollar.

When I was around 8 I can remember my mother sending me to the store to get change from a $1 foodstamp. It was a win-win deal, she got $.90  toward whatever it was that she was buying and I got a chik-o-stick, remember chik-o-sticks? Anyway, multiple that $.90 by a few different stores and you got, well you do the math.

My fit of nostalgia brought me to the internet equivalent of a mall, the most glorious of all neighborhood marketplaces.  I'm talking about Ebay. Along with some food stamp teeshirts and a few racist bumper stickers, I found them. The current bid for a $1.00 food stamp $12.99, a $5.00 foodstamp will run you $24.99, that's what I call hyperinflation.  Oh the times they have a chang-ed.