April, 1930. There were no home microwaves or McDonald’s. Herbert Hoover was President, and everyone was listening to Duke Ellington, Judy Garland, and Cole Porter.
A Canadian-born baker, James Dewar, worked at the Continental Baking Company in Illinois. He noticed that machines making cream-filled strawberry shortcake were left idle after the season was over. Dewar came up with the idea of making a mini-snack cake filled with readily available banana cream.
On his way to a marketing meeting, Dewar drove past a billboard painted on the side of a barn. It advertised “Twinkle-Toe Shoes.” Dewar had a great idea – call the new snack Twinkies.
Twinkies were produced by Hostess and sold for five cents for a package of two.
Dewar had 4 kids, 15 grandkids, and 17 great-grandchildren.
They all ate Twinkies. Legend says that Dewar had at least 3 Twinkies and a glass of milk before going to bed every night.
In the 1940s, bananas were rationed so Hostess replaced the filling with vanilla cream. It was so popular that they kept the new flavor.
Twinkies reached their prime in the 1950s and 60s when they sponsored the Howdy Doody show. People claimed “they stay fresh forever” – the perfect food to store in your backyard fallout shelter.
According to Today, now over one million Twinkies are eaten every day. That’s a lot of calorie-rich, gourmet junk food. The golden sponge cake filled with vanilla cream has become an icon in American pop food culture.
President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary recognized that fact and included Twinkies in the 1999 National Millennium Time Capsule – along with other stuff like Levi’s, a Barbie doll, and a baseball signed by Joe DiMaggio.
What will the Twinkies look like when they open the capsule in 2100?
One Twinkie legend says they will stay fresh forever. Another claims they’ll last for decades, even surviving a nuclear war.
Collin Purrington decided to test the theory. In 2012 Hostess filed for bankruptcy. Since Collin knew that Twinkies stay fresh forever, he bought a stash and put it in his basement. Hostess was saved by a takeover deal of $375 million, renamed Hostess Brands, and eventually purchased for $410 million. Of course, Collin couldn’t predict the future.
Eight years later, Collin remembered the Twinkies in his basement. He retrieved them and took a bite.
According to Nell Greenfieldboyce in NPR, Collin said that he “retched [from the Twinkie] . . . it tasted like old sock.”
The remaining Twinkies looked weird. “One had a dark-colored blemish the size of a quarter [the other] was gray, shrunken, and wrinkly, like a dried morel mushroom.”
Collin posted the photos on Twitter and two scientists, Brian Lovett and Matt Kasson, known for their studies of fungus, were interested. Collin happily mailed them samples.
After extensive research, the scientists found mold and fungus on the Twinkies.
Susie Nelson announced in the Insider, “The myth of the immortal Twinkie is dead, thanks to a new analysis of moldy snack cakes.”
Even without immortality, getting buried in a Presidential Time capsule, stored in fallout shelters and school lunchboxes, Twinkies are still one of the most popular snacks today.
These days, Twinkies have gone creative. There are 19 different fillings, from the original Banana Cream to Vanilla Cream and limited editions like Ogre Green Cream and Key Lime Slime. Try Glazed, Lemonade Stand, or Chocolate Lovers. There are Twinkie cakes, ice cream, and cereal. How about a deep-fried Twinkie from the fair?
Consider other tidbits like the “Twinkie Defense” where Dan White, on trial for murder, claimed diminished mental capacity because he overindulged in junk food like Twinkies (he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter instead). You can find Twinkies in Zombieland, a 35-foot Twinkie in Ghostbusters, and a Twinkie Diet.
Amazon offers a Twinkie costume, a blown glass Twinkie, a candle, and a Twinkie pet costume. They also have books like Twinkie Deconstructed, Twinkie the Mule, Twinkie Cookbook, and Twinkie the Llama. April 6 is National Twinkies Day. If you’re so inclined, check out the Hostess website for recipes like Twinkie Pancakes, Frozen Twinkie Pop Mummies, and Twinkie Sushi.
You never know!
