About Gobstopper Day
Gobstoppers (known as jawbreakers in the United States) are a type of hard candy.
The term gobstopper derives from "gob", which is slang in the United Kingdom and Ireland for the mouth. Their size and the time it takes to eat one means the gob is stopped from doing much else!
The sweet was a favourite among British schoolboys in the first half of the twentieth century.
The most famous gobstopper is the Everlasting Gobstoppers, which features in Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In Dahl's story, Everlasting Gobstoppers are purported to last forever.
In the book, Wonka's business rival Slugworth attempts to bribe the children visiting the Wonka factory to steal one for him. This is later revealed as a lie; Slugworth is actually one of Wonka's workers. The proposal was a test that Wonka set up to judge the worthiness of the ticket holders to take over the factory.
