My friend remembers shopping for the ingredients with his mom, and both of them being appalled at how much crystallized ginger cost back then, in the regular grocery store.
If you go to a Mexican/Latino store, you can get lots of it for cheap. He’s given me an order for this Thanksgiving, because the ethnic store is right across the street from me ;-)
-JT
You can also make your own crystallized ginger. Just get the fresh ginger root and crystallize it in a sugar solution, just like you do lemon or orange peel.