logo Sign In

Willy Wonka candy - in the 70s!

Author
Time
Those of you who are old enough to have been around in the 70s... do you remember the ORIGINAL Wonka candy?

It isn't the same as what they're peddling now, nor even as what we had in the 80s, for the most part. Originally marketed in the early 70s by Breaker Confections to tie in with the first film, they had a few different types of candy that started the whole thing rolling. Problem is, I can't find a damn thing on the internet about the original 70s candy line! So I'm going by my own memory.

Here's a few of the things myself (and my dad!) remember from the 70s:

Wonka Bar
- Some kind of chocolate candy bar, but not the same as what Nestle sells now, as far as I know.

Peanut Butter Super Skrunch Bar
- Another chocolate candy bar, I can remember getting them and liking them.

Scrumdidilyumptious Bar
- Larger chocolate candy bar. My dad says these were great but I don't remember what they were like.

Peanut Butter Oompas
- Totally unlike the current "Oompas" they sell, these were like fat m&ms with peanut butter and chocolate inside! Also totally pre-dating Reeses Pieces by quite a few years.

Everlasting Gobstoppers
- According to Nestle's website, these were first marketed in 1976. They've remained basically the same ever since, and you can still buy them now.

These candies ceased production sometime after the 70s ended, and most of them never came back. In the 80s, Runts and Nerds candies showed up with the Willy Wonka logo, as well as Everlasting Gobstoppers again. Apparently Nestle bought the name in 1988 and continued to slap it on more products, even producting a Wonka bar made of chocolate and graham cracker. The recent Willy Wonka movie sparked another revival of the products, and Wonka bars started showing up again to tie in with the film.

Does anybody else remember those original 70s candies, in particular the candy bars and Oompas? Post up!

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
Even the Gobstoppers beat me by ten years. I wish I could try some of those because they sound good, especially the Oompas. My parents always say that candy used to taste better in the 70's before it was extremely mass-produced.

Hey look, a bear!

Author
Time
Originally posted by: JarHead413
Even the Gobstoppers beat me by ten years. I wish I could try some of those because they sound good, especially the Oompas. My parents always say that candy used to taste better in the 70's before it was extremely mass-produced.
Don't worry, you can still buy Gobstoppers. They're not as big as they used to be, but they're basically the same otherwise.

The Oompas WERE good... what I wouldn't do to have them again now. I think it's true that a lot of candy was better in the 70s before complete mass-production. And some of the candy changed a bit over the years. Whoppers used to taste a little different than they do now, but they're still close enough to be generally the same.

Another favorite of mine that hasn't been around since then is Flicks, which were basically large Ghirardelli chocolate chips in a cardboard tube (like a small toilet paper roll) wrapped in foil. But you can still buy Ghirardelli chocolate.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
They actually manufactured chocolate bars based on the original Willy Wonka movie? I didn't know that...
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
Author
Time
Originally posted by: ricarleite
They actually manufactured chocolate bars based on the original Willy Wonka movie? I didn't know that...
Yes, they did... although it's a fact that's apparently lost in time, since I can't find a single image of one or even a reference that they ever existed, apart from some people reminiscing on a few forums out there.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
Bumping this thread, because now I have... PICTURES!

Took me forever to find these. Here they are:

Wonka Bar
[still can't find the original 70s one]

Peanut Butter Super Skrunch Bar
http://theimaginaryworld.com/pix352.jpg

Scrumdidilyumptious Bar
http://theimaginaryworld.com/pix351.jpg

Peanut Butter Oompas
http://theimaginaryworld.com/pix350.jpg
http://theimaginaryworld.com/twitter07.jpg

Everlasting Gobstoppers
http://theimaginaryworld.com/poloh09.jpg

And here's the original Bottle Caps... as I suspected, they were NOT originally Wonka candies:
http://theimaginaryworld.com/tostem03.jpg

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
An everlasting jawbreaker... I suppose that's the denstists worst nightmare.
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
Author
Time
As an experiment, I just tried eating one m&m and one Reese's piece together to try to see if I could duplicate the Peanut Butter Oompas experience.

Result: no dice. The m&m totally overpowered the peanut butter taste, even with 2 Reese's Pieces to 1 m&m. Somehow the taste of m&ms is just too strong.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

Author
Time
I think you guys put too much tought in to candy.
Author
Time
Originally posted by: sean wookie
I think you guys put too much tought in to candy.
On a site where we nitpick over details between versions of a series of popular science fiction movies?

I think we would be the pot calling ourselves black.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]