In 1964, Roald Dahl's instant-classic children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published. Seven years later, in 1971, Paramount Pictures released the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which Dahl is said to have loathed (which is why Dahl's magical sequel to the first book, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, was never made into a movie). The movie, famous for its psychedelic '70s style and Gene Wilder's twisted trippy performance, also coincided with a major marketing opportunity: turning the candy itself into mass-marketed merchandise. That task was taken care of by Quaker Oats, which won the licensing rights. (Check out this great Flickr set comprised of scanned images from the original Willy Wonka product roll-out.)
Now Wonka's a subsidiary of Nestle, which has opened the world's first retail shop dedicated solely to Wonka brand candy. It's located inside the Toys 'R' Us Times Square, where, according to the press release, "you can purchase all 12 nostalgic and beloved Wonka brands, as well as the new Wonka Exceptionals collection." The latter product line consists of premium chocolate bars—we're guessing the chocolate for those is bottled at the source of the river, not downstream where fat kids drown. Besides candy, the store sells T-shirts, tasty lip-balms, and "whimsical stationary." It truly sounds like a world of pure imagination. (Just don't eat the brown acid before venturing inside.)
