Pre War

[Kriton Kyrimis]

I'd like to thank all the people who replied to my question.

Most people focused on discussing war-time rationing and why Donald's  
bonbons dated from before the war. Perhaps I should have made it clear  
that I already understood that.

My question still remains: does "pre-war" mean "ancient"  
metaphorically in English, as it does in Greek?

We mustn't forget that older stories, when read by modern readers, can  
be read in today's context. While "pre-war" meant one thing during the  
war (e.g., pre-rationing, in the good old days of peace, etc.) it  
could mean something entirely different (e.g., ancient) today, as it  
does in Greek. While Donald's nephews would grab the opportunity to  
devour the pre-war candy, as they did in the story, a modern child  
would keep away from 75 year old candy, which would probably be  
shriveled and moldy with mold that was shriveled and moldy itself. I  
assume that this is the reason why the label on the box was modified  
in later reprints of the story. Donald was trying to lure the kids  
with the best candy available to him, not with stale and possibly  
poisonous candy.

Kriton.