So the old story goes that our great grand mother Frances Culhane (Maiden name Schumm) wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and sold it to Disney or Roald Dahl whom worked for Disney at the time. I have told myself I remember Nani Boege (Frances Culhane) tell me that she wrote it but I was 4 years old at that time. Also at that time she read my tarot cards for me. It was pretty wild.
If you look at our tree on Ancestry.com (cculhane17 is my tree) you can see that many of the names in Charlie and the chocolate factory are the names of the Family of our great grandmother. Frances father is Joe (grandpa joe) his middle name is also Augustus (Augustus Gloop), her sister is Josephine, George and Georgina is somewhere?? Of course Frances Schumm was married to our great grandfather Willie (Wonka) Culhane his father our great great grandfather was also Willie Culhane. Willie Culhane’s brother was Charlie Culhane (Charlie Bucket) (James Culhane was the other brother)
I can show you multiple many instances of Culhane owning Confectionery stores dating all the way back to Ireland before they immigrated to the US. But in the early 1900’s The Pendergast Candy Co. was started by RF Pendergast and EJ Culhane:
“The Pendergast Company had discovered the method of making a fluffy nougat for candy bars that was copied by Frank Mars for his Milky Way bars.[3] “
^^^Much like the story in Charlie and the chocolate factory and the spies stealing the candy formula.
My theory is that Frances Culhane was the writer for many of Roald Dahl stories of the time. Shamus (James) Culhane (also related but I do not fully know how).
But James Culhane was the other brother above as well as the name of our 4th great grandfather who immigrated to the US from Ireland.
Shamus (James) Culhane was a life long animator for Disney among others. My theory is Frances Culhane was in contact with Shamus Culhane and Roald Dahl and Disney and wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and others. She was the ghost writer but never got paid. 🙂 The old story that Aunt Kathy or your dad told said Frances Culhane was paid $25.00 for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
I have way more than that somewhere but this is what I can remember and pull up quickly.
What you just read is some information from my nephew Christopher, my brother Michael’s first born who did much of the research to validate this claim, some from memory and some will say with no proof but all the cards fall into place to make it probable. I have nothing to gain by lying about it, it’s a great family story.
My father’s name is William, his mother was very poor, lived in NJ in low income housing, her family however was not, all very wealthy from owning candy factories in NYC. So big that my nephew found an invoice on ancestry for a candy order of 29,000 pounds of candy from over 80 years ago. She was the black sheep of the family I guess. I imagine my father received some help from that side of the family cause he raised 7 kids and sent us to private school. His mother, Frances, my grandmother, wrote a story and sent it to Disney years ago. Shamus Culhane was the cartoonist for Betty Boop and I believe Woody Woodpecker, not sure if he is family, nevertheless she received $35. dollars for the draft, that was probably big money back 80-90 years ago. Not a shred of proof of a copy of the check. (no xerox machines back then) The nougat filling found in candy bars like Three Musketeers was invented by a Culhane and that patent sold to Mars Candy. The man that stole the story is well known for plagiarizing in his career and the names in the script like Josephine and Charlie are my great aunt and uncle. My old man is Willy Wonka.
Eddie the Lock 