BK, you had me at Boton Rice Candy! I am loving your new book! I wish I had the time to sit down and read it at one sitting.
("Read it? I devoured it!" Name that film/play)
Then again, I like savoring each chapter, not unlike that mile high chocolate cake that was documented earlier.
I have loved Botan Rice Candy since my father took me to Chinatown when we lived in Seattle. The thing that was so special about it to me, beyond the amazing toy, was that you could eat the cellophaney wrapper. I used to buy it whenever I saw it (which until recently was very rare here in GA) and enjoy sharing it with friends who would try to peel off the wrapper and then shock them by forgoing the unwrapping and pop the whole thing into my mouth!
You are right about the decline in quality of the toys. They used to be cute, tiny little sponge animals or something else equally as tiny. Then they downgraded to stickers and press-on tattoos. Now, as you say, the toys may have vanished all together. But the box has never changed!
Thanks for the memories...