75 Years of Golden Goodness

It's Twinkie time! The Twinkie is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. I honored this milestone by eating one for breakfast.

Twinkie History, from the Hostess website (www.twinkies.com):

The Hostess brand got its start in Indianapolis in 1925. Continental Baking Company purchased a bakery called Taggart that was selling popular new bread called Wonder (maybe you've heard of it). Continental began selling Wonder Bread as its national bread brand but needed a line of cakes to sell alongside. Hostess cake was born, including the chocolate cup cake which is still popular today.
Continental hit the sponge cake gold mine in 1930 when Jimmy Dewar invented Twinkies. Seeing a need for an inexpensive product during the depression, Dewar made use of shortcake pans that were only used during the strawberry season. Dewar's idea was to inject the shortcake with a banana crème filling to make them a year-round treat and sell them two for a nickel. Dewar's quest for a catchy name ended on his way to St. Louis to present his sweet invention. Driving down the highway he passed a billboard advertising Twinkle Toe shoes, and from this the Twinkies name evolved.
The Twinkies' popularity skyrocketed and it soon became Hostess' best-selling snack cake. During World War II a banana ration caused Continental to switch to the vanilla crème center that is loved today. Twinkies have become an American icon and nearly half a billion are made each year.

Side Notes:
~There is a promotional tie-in with the release of the movie Kong on DVD. For a limited time, banana Twinkies are available again. And they're pretty good, too!

~There's also a Twinkie cookbook. I was watching a morning entertainment show where the hosts sampled some of the recipes and all I could think was "Why mess with perfection?" Having said that, I will admit to eating an occasional fried Twinkie at the fair but that's it. Okay, who am I kidding... I bought a fried Twinkie KIT so I could make them at home. Now go away before the sugar kicks in and I hurt you. I'll claim the Twinkie Defense.

~And finally, the T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project. Been around a decade but just as amusing now as it ever was. (I did an "Environmental Longevity Test" on a Twinkie once, by leaving it in my locker at work for about 8 months. Through three seasons of alternating heat and cold the Twinkie remained mostly unchanged, though the package did get some tiny, sticky droplets on the inside. It still tasted good when I remembered it was in there ended the experiment.)