December 1, 2023

A spongy, golden cake with creamy white filling: for most of us this description immediately evokes a single word, “Twinkie.” Whether a nostalgic favorite from your childhood or still a go-to favorite at snack time, have you ever wondered where this yummy classic originated?

The story of the Twinkie takes us back to Schiller Park, Illinois, in 1930. Canadian-born baker, James Alexander Dewar, an employee of the Continental Baking Company (later known as Hostess Brands), realized that a number of the company’s machines for creating cream-filled strawberry shortcakes were sitting idle due to strawberries being out of season. With a little ingenuity, Dewar conceived of a new product that substituted banana cream for the traditional vanilla cream and dubbed the new cream-filled cake “Twinkie.”

As for the name, legend has it that Dewar saw a billboard in town advertising “Twinkle Toe Shoes” and drew inspiration from that. It’s not clear whether the shape of the shoes or simply the name was the driving force behind his decision, but to this day, people the world over know the iconic snack as the Twinkie.

With the onset of World War II, the cream filling inside the Twinkie switched from banana cream to vanilla cream. The change came about due to the rationing of bananas, but vanilla
cream proved to be a hit with customers who preferred it above all other flavored fillings. Over the years, Hostess experimented with alternate cream fillings such as strawberry, and for a short time, re-introduced the original banana flavor, but in the end vanilla cream was always the flavor of choice for Twinkie aficionados. Despite their hallowed place in lunch boxes across America, Twinkies transcended their role as a mere snack cake to become a part of urban legend and even earned a place in the lexicon of the legal profession. In pop culture, Twinkies have garnered attention for both their perceived longevity of shelf life as well as their lack of nutritional value. According to urban legends, Twinkies have a virtually infinite shelf life with stories claiming that the famous snack cakes could remain unspoiled in their original packaging for periods ranging anywhere from 10 to 100 years.

During the 2012 Super Bowl, Chevy ran a commercial featuring the Silverado in an apocalyptic scenario that alluded to the Twinkie’s extreme durability. In truth, however, a Hostess executive revealed to The New York Times in 2000 that the shelf life of Twinkies was actually relatively short, generally seven to 10 days. Studies later demonstrated that prior to 2012, Twinkies had a maximum shelf life of 26 days. In 2012, additional preservatives were added extending the maximum shelf life to 45 days In 1984, the movie “Ghostbusters” introduced the Twinkie to countries across the globe previously unfamiliar with the famous American snack cake. In the movie, the character Egon Spengler uses a Twinkie to demonstrate rising levels of psychokinetic energy in the environment. He compares the current level of psychokinetic energy in New York City to a Twinkie. He points out that due to the recent extraordinary increases in the energy that it would result in a Twinkie 35 feet long weighing 600 pounds.

In the legal profession, lawyers in San Francisco argued that their client committed a crime due to depression resulting from a shift in his diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary snacks. This argument became known as the “Twinkie Defense.” Contrary to popular belief, however, the lawyers did not actually assert that the Twinkies caused their client’s actions, but rather that his excessive consumption of Twinkies was symptomatic of his underlying depression.

On the culinary front, Christopher Sell, a Twinkie devotee from England, came up with the notion of freezing the snack cake, battering it and then deep-frying it in oil. Thus was born the first deep-fried Twinkie. Sell described his new invention: “Something magical occurs when the pastry hits the hot oil. The creamy white vegetable shortening filling liquefies, impregnating the sponge cake with its luscious vanilla flavor.... The cake itself softens and warms, nearly melting, contrasting with the crisp, deep-fried crust in a buttery and suave way...” In 2002, restaurant owner Clint Mullen introduced the deep-fried Twinkie novelty snack at state fairs. In 2016, Walmart stores even began carrying pre-packaged frozen versions of the deepfried Twinkie.

As popular as the Twinkie was, however, trends toward healthier lifestyles and eating habits were taking a toll on the sales of the famous product. In 2012, after reporting a 20% drop in Twinkie sales from the previous year, Hostess announced its plans to discontinue operations, citing that its customers had migrated to healthier foods. On November 16, 2012, Hostess filed for bankruptcy and Twinkie production at all plants came to a halt.

Not surprisingly, the public outcry at the loss of the Twinkie was tremendous. It wasn’t long before companies were vying for the rights to restore the beloved Twinkie to its fans around the world. Apollo Global Management & Metropoulos & Company won the bidding war for the sum of $410 million. The
joint companies revived the Hostess brand reintroducing Twinkies, Ho Hos and other Hostess products to the market in 2013.

If it seems like today’s Twinkies are smaller than those of your childhood, it’s not your imagination. Just prior to the bankruptcy, Hostess had reduced the size of the Twinkie from a total overall mass of 42.5 grams to 38.5 grams, and the reintroduced Twinkie of 2013 retained this formula. Despite the slight reduction in size, it’s likely that Twinkie fans around the world are more than happy to compromise a little rather than going without their favorite snack cake altogether.

For its legions of fans around the globe, nothing will ever take the place of the moist, golden cake with vanilla cream filling known as the Twinkie. Perhaps Time Magazine, after ranking the Twinkie No. 1 on its list of 10 “iconic” junk foods, said it best, stating that “they’ve been a staple in our popular culture, and above all, in our hearts. Often criticized for its lack of any nutritional value whatsoever, the Twinkie has managed to persevere as a cultural and gastronomic icon.”

By Robert Matsumura, Contributing Writer