Remember the Klein’s Kosher Ice Cream vending machine in Rabbi Newhouse’s B.Y. where you could buy an ice cream pop for ten cents or a pickle at the corner store for a nickle.
When we moved to Boro Park after Bedford Sty, i was assigned weekly food shopping at the age of ten. Yes, i was considered the responsible one in the family at a very young age. If i went to 46th street i could do grocery and fruit for $9 to $10 for the week. If i stayed in the neighborhood it would be about $3 more.
We were a family of six.
My parents trusted me with doing the bank deposits too at that age.
It was also acceptable to frequent the Brooklyn Public Library for good and acceptable reading material such as All Kind of a Family and for the younger ones such as Snip, Snap and Snurr or Flicka, Ricka and Dicka. We also read Yiddish such as Der Yiddishe Licht!