Penny In My Pocket

I woke a little after five this morning with the tune and the lyrics ♪ Got a penny in my pocket ♪ going through my mind. When I could remember no other lyrics, I started thinking about pennies; what a penny would buy when I was little - penny candy, a piece of bubble gum or a round piece or two out of the gum ball machine and if I saved them up, a three cent candy bar or a five cent ice cream cone. I remembered my little red plastic purse and how good I felt to have some pennies, even a nickle or dime, rattling around in it. So grown up!

And when I was older, the way I wanted a pair of penny loafers in which to place a shiny penny. And lucky pennies. Did I have a lucky penny? That made me think of Wheat Pennies and how I had started saving those once they became scarce. (They were minted from 1909 until 1956.)

The first thing I looked up was the lyrics and singer of Got A Penny In My Pocket. That search informed me the title of the song was really Angel On My Shoulder, written and sung by Shelby Flint and released in 1960. It reached #22 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart in early 1961.*

Got an angel on my shoulder
Got a penny in my pocket 
And I found a four leaf clover
And I put it in my locket

Wished on all the stars above me
And I caught the nearest rainbow
Gonna find someone to love me
Gonna find someone to love

Well I tossed a lot of nickels in the wishing well
And saved the fortunes that the fortune cookies tell
I got a lucky penny and a mustard seed
But a warm and tender love is all I need

And I want a love that lingers
And a strong one through and through
So I'm gonna cross my fingers
That I'll find a boy who loves me true
And I'm gonna love him too

Once my curiosity was satisfied about the lyrics and singer, I turned to my thoughts about wheat pennies.

These were the first seven I could easily lay my hands on. You can see by the design on the back why they are called wheat pennies.

These range in date from 1942, two top ones, counter clockwise to 1944, 1950, 1955, 1956 with my oldest one, 1920 in the middle.

What is not pictured is a copper penny from the year I was born, 1943. That is because there were only 40 copper cents minted in that year, all others were made from steel - although I have always thought of them as lead pennies for some reason. When I was younger I disliked those steel pennies so much, they were so common. I wanted to find a copper one with my birth year. If I have any of the steel 1943 pennies they are in the safe and I haven't looked there yet.

I knew I had some in a jewelry box which is where I found nine more copper wheat pennies dated 1928 (top), 1940 and 1942 followed by two 1944's, then a 1945 and a 1946, ending with a 1953 and a 1956.

The flattened oval penny at the bottom reads: Seven Falls The most beautiful mile of scenary in Colorado. You've probably seen those machines at a number of tourist spots. Put in a penny and get back a souvenir. I have several of these around.

They remind me of the flattened penny my Mom had. When she was young, the kids would put pennies on the railroad tracks and wait for a train to go through and squash them. If I remember correctly her's was pressed smooth on the tracks near Nodaway.

I also remember Mom having ration tokens like these and sales tax tokens, but that's another story for another day.

(*The record producer was Perry Botkin, Jr., same surname as my first husband and my oldest son - not that there is/was any relationship that I know of; just an interesting aside.)