The Disappointing Truth About Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory's Flavored Wallpaper
It was every child's dream world: one filled with candy. There were chocolate golden eggs, everlasting gobstoppers, fizzy lifting soda, and, of course, one of the biggest hits among the lucky children who found a golden ticket to paradise, lickable wallpaper. This wondrous universe was Willy Wonka's factory, featured originally in the 1970s film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and based on the children's book by Roald Dahl (via Foodbeast). Along with his grandfather and fellow children Mike Teavee, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, and Violet Beauregarde, the beloved character Charlie Bucket toured the famous candy maker's factory in the film, learning about his candy-making methods and new candy inventions along the way.
The group was excited upon coming across the lickable wallpaper, which Willy Wonka encouraged them to try.
"Lick an orange. It tastes like an orange. Lick a pineapple. It tastes like a pineapple. Go ahead. Try it," Wonka urged the characters.
"Try some more!" he continues after Charlie raves about the tasty wallpaper. "The strawberries taste like strawberries! The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!" (via Warner Bros. Entertainment on YouTube).
Oompa loompa doompety doo
According to The Washington Post, unfortunately, in real life, the wallpaper didn't turn out to be so tasty after all. When the cast reunited in 2011 for the 40th anniversary of the film's release, the actors revealed that the wallpaper actually tasted like, well, wallpaper.
To further disappoint, the chocolate river that Augustus fell into wasn't made from rich, smooth cocoa, but was rather just water. Additionally, the daffodil tea cup Willy Wonka bit into was actually made of wax (via The Washington Post).
However, if you're looking for a wallpaper to tantalize your senses, there is good news. A 2007 NPR interview reported that Flavor Paper, an eclectic wallpaper company, had developed a line of scratch-and-sniff wallpaper called the Fruit Cocktail Collection with flavors including banana, cherry, and tutti-frutti. While it's unclear if the wallpaper collection is still on the market, Flavor Paper's website reports that the Cherry Forever "flavor" has been added as a permanent part of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Museum.