The History of Twinkies
The Twinkie is an icon of American pop culture. The ladyfinger-like snack is a sponge cake filled with vanilla cream and packaged in pairs. Since its creation, the Twinkie has changed with the times just as America itself has changed. The ubiquitous yellow cake is adaptable, portable and easily recognizable, but there is more to the Twinkie than meets the eye.
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History
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Twinkies were created in 1930 at the Continental Baking Company. As the Hostess Snack Cake division struggled during the Great Depression, vice president James Dewar had an idea to generate new income. Hostess was producing a shortbread snack filled with strawberries, but Dewar noticed that the baking equipment sat idle for many months of the year when the strawberries were out of season. He created a banana-flavored cream to replace the fruit so that filled sponge cakes could be produced year-round. Dewar chose the name Twinkies after driving by a billboard for Twinkle Toe Shoes.
Time Frame
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Twinkies have gone through many changes since their humble beginnings during the Depression. Banana rationing in World War II forced the Twinkie filling to be replaced with a vanilla cream. Fifty years later, Hostess has re-introduced the banana cream in batches of special edition Twinkies. Twinkies gained huge popularity in the 1950s by sponsoring the Howdy Doody Show. The creation of mascot Twinkie the Kid dates back to this postwar era in Twinkie history.
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Facts
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Hostess produces roughly 500 million Twinkies annually. Each Twinkie is composed of 39 ingredients, including sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, water, traces of egg and various chemicals for preservation. Each individual cake contains 160 calories. Chicago has earned the title of "Twinkie Capital of the World," with residents of the Windy City eating more Twinkies than any other city in the world.
Features
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Americans still love to eat Twinkies, and now many recipes exist to take the snack cake to new heights. Deep-fried Twinkies are a popular item at county and state fairs. The cake is frozen, dipped in batter, fried and served on a stick with a powdered sugar coating. Twinkies have become a popular choice for Halloween costumes and were even placed in the White House time capsule by President Clinton in 1995.
Misconceptions
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Contrary to the urban legend that Twinkies will last for decades without spoiling, the snack cake has a shelf life of only 25 days. Concerned that the snack was spoiling in only two days, Dewar altered the original ingredients of the Twinkie to include less dairy and egg than other baked goods.
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References
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- Photo Credit Gilgongo: Flickr.com
