You could fulfil the childhood ambition of millions and finally get your hands on a Golden Ticket – but it could cost you at least £8,000 at an auction to be held in Selsdon next month.
Yours, for a mere £8,000-plus
The Golden Ticket and a Wonka Bar, props from the original 1971 movie, Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, were once owned by Julie Dawn Cole, the actress who played Veruca Salt alongside Hollywood star Gene Wilder.
But they go under the hammer at the latest Catherine Southon Auction at Farleigh Court Golf Club, Selsdon, on July 17.
The lot is expected to fetch between £8,000 and £12,000, though with the massive interest in the works of Roald Dahl, the author of the book on which the film was based, that could prove to be an under-estimate.
The gold-coloured foiled printed ticket reads “WONKA’S GOLDEN TICKET/GREETINGS TO YOU, THE LUCKY FINDER OF THIS GOLDEN TICKET, FROM MR. WILLY WONKA…”.
Wonka: Gene Wilder played the sweet factory owner in the 1971 film
It has scalloped detail to the edge, while the Wonka “chocolate” bar is constructed of board with coloured paper surrounds and has an outer foil wrapper.
Six black and white photographs of the actress and three further photographs featuring Mark Poncia (formerly an auctioneer, who once dated Cole) will also be included with the ticket in the auction.
“As a child Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was one of my favourite books,” Southon, the TV antiques expert, told Inside Croydon. “I loved the character of Veruca Salt in the film, so when the ticket and Wonka bar was bought in to us on a valuation day, I couldn’t believe my eyes, a real dream come true!
“It’s an iconic piece of film ephemera which will appeal with the child in all of us!”
She could’ve danced all night: Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle
Another item in the auction that will appeal to film and theatre fans is a Mappin & Webb Ltd silver-plated tea set that was used in the original 1958 London stage production of My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal that starred Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway.
At the close of the production in 1964 when the tea service was returned to Mappin & Webb, the current owner’s father, who worked for the company for 50 years, bought the tea set for his family. The Georgian-style tea set comes with a letter of provenance on Mappin & Webb headed paper and a programme for the production.
It is estimated to fetch £200 to £300. Now wouldn’t that be luvverly?
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