Once upon a time in America, the most iconic snacks in American history were sprouting out and making a huge name for themselves. Snacks like Oreo cookies and Cracker Jacks (Cracker Jacks is another famous snack with its origins starting in Chicago, but that will be a story for another time.), craving out a slice of the American snack market for themselves. But in 1930, a little golden cream-filled sponge came splashing onto the snack scene…Twinkies!
Twinkies are such an American mainstay, the mere mention of the name of these delicious little golden cakes in other parts of world, conjures up an image of an overweight American gorging a handful of Twinkies at a time. A common question asked by most folks from other nations is, “Do Americans eat Twinkies three times and after each meal?,” which certainly makes Twinkies one of the most popular American snacks in the eyes of the world. A world-famous snack with humble beginnings in the land of Lincoln.
Twinkies were invented on April 6, 1930, by baker Jimmy Alexander Dewar for the Continental Baking Company located in Schiller Park, Illinois. Dewar came up with the name when he saw an ad on a billboard in St. Louis for “Twinkle Toe Shoes,” some claims say the name was inspired by the fanciful word “twinkle.” Dewar noticed equipment in the factory that used to make the company’s small, baked strawberry shortcakes sitting idle when strawberries were out of season. He then came up with the idea of injecting the yellow cakes with a banana cream filling, and the Twinkie was born. But during World War II, bananas were being rationed, and it forced the company to switch over to vanilla cream instead. The switch-over to vanilla proved to be a hit with consumers and banana-cream was slowly phased out, occasionally redistributing the original flavor for limited time only promotions.
A common myth about Twinkies is that they last for decades and can even survive a nuclear war. An entire episode of Family Guy was dedicated to the funny myth. Although Twinkies don’t last forever, they have a shelf life of about 45 days. But Americans do buy more than 500 million of the Illinois-born spongy yellow cakes every year. While the Twinkies shelf life isn’t forever, their legacy sure is and are truly a slice of Americana.
