I found a 1936 buffalo nickel, so I looked up both its current value ($1-4) and what it could buy when it new. One chart said a “Chicken dinner candy bar”, which sounds so wonderfully wrong. It turns out it was just an ordinary candy bar with nuts and chocolate and no chicken, it just had a strange name. It was sold from the mid 1920’s for about 40 or 50 years, so any surviving ones would be rather old and nasty today.
Anyhoo, there is a bit of narrative: girl has no money, goes for a walk, finds a nickel, takes it to a pawn shop, gets 2 bucks, buys a candy bar, the end.
If I work with this further, I’ll slow it down, since I’m a bit too fumbletounged for this many words to happen this quickly. Blahbebeeblah.
lyrics
She slept in a shack, her head on a brick
The dirt where she lay was four people thick
She rose like a ghost just to keep the peace
Try to find a better place tomorrow, at least
She turned her feet to where the dawn would arrive
"There must lay gold, not just a way to survive”
her boot came off 5 times in the muck
But the 6th saw a glint of change to her luck
Buffalo on the back, a chief on the head
It's not worth much, but it's better than dead
Stone soup can only stretch so far
But she'll eat like a queen with a Chicken dinner candy bar.
She pulled from the mud a crusty old coin
Maybe it's worth some gum or a juicy sirloin
She chipped at the dirt with a dull fingernail
To see what fate had put on her trail
Soon the chief's old stoic face was revealed
Not enough for the rent, not enough for a meal
So she headed on down to the gold and vac
Where this little buffalo would have her back
Buffalo on the back, a chief on the head
It's not worth much, but it's better than dead
Stone soup can only stretch so far
But she'll eat like a queen with a Chicken dinner candy bar.
the chief on the counter she rang the bell
She said "it's worth a grand as far as i can tell
He said "I'll give you two bucks, which won't go far
But It'll get you a chicken dinner candy bar”
Buffalo on the back, a chief on the head
It still beats a kick in head
Stone soup can only stretch so far
But she'll eat like a queen with a Chicken dinner candy bar.
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