by Eric McKeever

Created on: June 03, 2010   Last Updated: August 09, 2010

The word “Twinkie” evokes an image of a light, yellow sponge cake filled with delectable cream wrapped in packages of two. Twinkies have been in the public consciousness since the 1930s and have been a popular snack for kids and adults ever since their debut.  They’ve endured as a part of the fabric of American life so much so that in 1999 President Clinton added a Twinkie to a time capsule continuing the myth that Twinkies last forver.  But where did these delicious snack treats originate?

In 1933 Continental Bakeries (later renamed Hostess,) was in the midst of making its cream-filled strawberry shortcakes.  Employee James A. Dewar is the man credited with the creation of the modern-day Twinkie.  When strawberries were out of the season, the machine that was used to create the cream-filled shortcakes would lay idle.  Since strawberries weren’t available, Mr. Dewar decided to create an inexpensive snack using banana cream that could be sold during strawberry 's off season.  Of course, with the Depression taking its toll country-wide, bananas also became scarce so he opted to use vanilla cream instead.  It proved to be asuch a brilliant move that the company never went back to bananas or strawberries. The name Twinkie was an inspired choice after Dewar saw a billboard advertising a shoe company named “Twinkle Toe Shoe Company.” He fooled around with the letters and came up with its cute name.

By the 40s and 50s, the Twinkie had become a huge hit for Hostess.  The Twinkie became an animated television star as Hostess was a sponsor for the Howdy Doody show who ferquently played the animated treat during commercial breaks.  Parents and kids would tune in to see the antics of Howdy and friends, but would also get to see plenty of ads for Twinkies.  By the 1960s, the threat of nuclear bombs replaced the threat of Communism and as people planned what they would store away for those nasty bomb shelter days, the Twinkie seemed like a natural choice.   At that time, Twinkies' advertising claimed that they would “stay fresh forever.”  This led to the popular belief that Twinkies had no expiration date.  In all actuality the Twinkie has a shelf life of 26 days, but even today television shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy have poked fun at the shelf life of Twinkies.  Feature

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