Monday, June 7, 2010

E is for Everlasting Gobstopper

Everlasting Gobstoppers are little colorful jawbreaker candies.

The creation of Everlasting Gobstoppers was derived from the fictional book by Roald Dahl, entitled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, published in 1964. In Dahl's story, Everlasting Gobstoppers were designed by Willy Wonka, the eccentric owner/operator of a fantastic, if not bizarre, chocolate factory.  Willy Wonka designed them to be a long lasting, and therefore, ecomomical treat for "children with very little pocket money." The children were pretty much forced to slowly suck on the candies because if they were to bite them their teeth would break.

In the original novel, the Everlasting Gobstopper's were described as a normal round jawbreaker which flashed with a variety of colors. The Gobstopper was used as a device to determine which of the children had integrity and were not intent on betraying Willy Wonka.

Everlasting Gobstoppers were introduced in 1976 by the Chicago candy company, Breaker Confections, which had licensed the Willy Wonka name in 1971 so that it could be used as a merchandising tie-in for the movie, "Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory". The Willy Wonka brand is now owned by Nestle' and is made in Itasca, Illinois.

In the United Kingdom jawbreakers have been called gobstoppers for over eighty years. Everlasting Gobstoppers are a jawbreaker candy made of several colorful, fruity layers to mimic the changing-color effect of the candy from the book. The original candy was made with a chalky candy center, and is now available with a chewy candy center as well.

Source: wikipedia.com
Image: americansweets.co.uk

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