The origins of the Gobstopper, to most people may seem unworthy of scrutiny or investigation. The horrible truth is that the Gobstopper was not simply created as a long lasting candy for the sugar loving masses.
In 1971, the Wonka candy company was facing increasing pressure from labor law groups who had been pressing for him to adopt more modern labor and wage practices. Recent riots and walkouts in the Italian and French candy industry brought the candy-labor problem to international attention.
Mr. Wonka, under pressure from his sugar/chocolate supplier Breaker Confections, was being forced to suppress the growing dissent among his rank of workers. At the time Mr. Wonka used Goblin labor almost exclusively in his candy factories. Breaker Confections, worried that the recent unrest in Europe would spill over into America and allow the Goblin laborers to unionize, insisted that Mr. Wonka fire all Goblin employees and hire a little known group of immigrants called the Oompa Loompa's. The Loompa's were a fringe ethnic group from southern Albania which Breaker Confections had been smuggling illegally into the country to work at their factories.
After being fired the Goblin workers did organize and started massive protests in front of all Wonka and Breaker factories. In 1972 the Wonka candy company, at the urging of Breakers CEO Gunter Slugworth, started an anti-goblin campaign seeking to marginalize the goblin protest groups and spread rumors to curb support for their pro-labor efforts.
The centerpiece of this campaign was the release of the Everlasting Gobbstopper. The candy along with the ad's for the candy portrayed goblins as greedy, self serving and seeking only to control the hard earned wealth of the American people. The anti-goblin campaign was a success, with the goblin protests being prohibited by state ordinances throughout the country. The Everlasting Gobbstopper became one of Wonka's best selling products, and their profits increased dramatically with the use of illegal Albanian Oompa labor.
As one of the five children invited to tour the Wonka factories during the 1920s, my grandfather had an almost exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the magic labors of the Goblin Wonkers before the true scandal materialized in the 1970s. What you dont hear is that the Goblin's prowess for crafting sweets was unmatched, even Wonka had trouble understanding what made their creations so irresistible. My grandfather said it was apparent, even to a child at the time, that the goblins were being exploited by Mr. Wonka and that you could see the frustrations in their faces as they toiled over cauldrons of Slicker Syrups and other censored products that Wonka was deliberately holding back from the public. It was only a matter of time before Wonka would lose control of his Goblins, but I had not known the true extent of his smear campaign, nor made the connection to Gobstoppers product, until reading this entry today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, the nearly magical creations of the goblin confectioners unfortunately never saw the light of day. Wonka did not think that these creations were economically feasible to produce. The mechanization of candy production in the 50's and 60's put even greater pressure on Wonka to get rid of the highly skilled and well compensated Goblins.
ReplyDeleteAs a quick follow up - many goblins were relocated to Philadelphia to dig tunnels and vaults for storing relics and secrets of the Masons. Despite their noble work, the repercussions of Wonka's smear campaign still haunt the goblins of today - see the following article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.planetizen.com/node/27872
Philadelphia is a very ugly city, there is just no disputing it. Goblins are ugly.
ReplyDelete