"I want a feast...I want a BEAN FEAST!"?

Question

This is a line from the ORIGINAL "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Veruca Salt is singing just before she gets tossed down the garbage chute and gets her Oompa Loompa song. What, praytell, is a "bean feast?" I assume it's some British reference as the character is British, but what exactly IS a "bean feast?"

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Bean-feast, primarily an annual dinner given by an employer to his workpeople, and by extension, colloquially, describes any jollification. The phrase is variously derived. The most probable theory is that which connects it with the custom in France, and afterwards in Germany and England, of a feast on Twelfth Night, at which a cake with a bean buried in it was a great feature. The bean-king was he who had the good fortune to have the slice of cake in which was the bean. This choosing of a king or queen by a bean was formerly a common Christmas diversion at the English and Scottish courts, and in both English universities

Source(s):

life

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Sounds entirely plausible... thanks! That line has bugged me for YEARS!

Answer 2

possibly jelly beans???

Answer 3

Well in addition and to supplement what nori said, chocolate comes from the cacao bean so I would guess the reference is to that -- another way of saying I want a lot of chocolate!!

Answer 4

A bean feast is the British term for a Dutch Oven.

Answer 5

The British are always eating beans on toast. That's one of their favorite snack foods.