Im only about a 1/3 of some of your ages but i remember there were 2 stores near us that were like a 5 and dime. I mostly remember penny candy they had (swedish fish, small tootsie rolls, ju ju bees, gummy coins, sixlets, etc) stores had everything from arts and craft supplies, plumbing parts, electrical stuff, plastic models, hotwheels, etc.
My favorite candy is still the candy cigarettes (target, round up, lucky strike, etc) luckily i can still find them for about a quarter a pack...still feel weird waiting in line to pay while everyone else is buying real cigs and scratchoffs and here i stand with like 10 packs of candy cigs haha.
And yes soda (yes its soda around here not "pop" or "coke") still does taste better from glass bottles.