It is said that 2 things will survive a nuclear holocaust - roaches and twinkles. I guess the roaches will have to have something to eat. I'm not sure where this urban legend stemmed from (hmmmm, sounds like a good idea for a post), but Twinkies do have a shelf life. In the good ol' days Twinkies had a shelf life of 26 days. With advanced improvements in 2012, the shelf life has gone up to 45 days! Clearly not holocaust timeframe. So where did all of this start?
Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park, IL on 6 April 1930 by James Alexander Dewar in a factory that made cream-filled strawberry shortcakes. During the off season when strawberries were out-of-season, the machines sat lifeless. To fill up some unproductive time, a banana-cream filled snack was contrived. The name "Twinkie" came from a billboard advertising "Twinkle Toe Shoes". WWII was a difficult time for the U.S. and many things were rationed including bananas. Twinkie went over to vanilla cream which turned out to be more popular and became the permanent Twinkie flavor. The original flavor has come back for "limited time only". In 1988, Fruit and Cream Twinkies hit the market and were a flop. In 2005, the movie King Kong was recreated and as a promotion, Twinkie went back over to it's original flavor. Get it - monkeys and bananas! There was 20% rise in sales and in 2007 banana was restored to the Twinkie line. On 11 January 2012, Hostess filed for Chapter 11 and 16 November 2012 the Twinkie died.
It indeed was a sad day. Twinkies were returned to a much loving public on 15 July 2013 when Apollo Global Management and Metropolis & Co. purchased them out of bankruptcy. The Twinkie was reduced in caloric content - from 150 to 135.
Twinkies have enjoyed a wide range of popularity. The deep fried Twinkie was introduced at the Texas State Fair. The Twinkie Wiener Sandwich of a Twinkie split open for a hot dog with easy cheese and dipped in milk was the signature dish of "Weird Al" Yankovic in the 1989 movie UHF. Twinkies have been cornerstones in many recipes from tiramisu to pies and cakes. In 2010, a Kansas State University professor, Mark Haub, lived off the "convenience store diet" which was meant to prove that counting calories weighed more than nutritional value. He lost 27lbs!
However you look at it, the Twinkie is truly an American icon!!
Side note: being the bad mother that I am, my kids have never eaten a Twinkie...until today. It had nothing to do with anything except that we're not big sweets people. As my daughter unwrapped the package, she looked like I was forcing her to eat rat poison. My son had the same apprehensive look. The kid down the street was a little more receptive to the trying of the Twinkie. I am clearly not the only poor parent. My daughter said it was "good" which means she doesn't like it which is weird because she is our 80 lbs garbage shute. My son said he didn't care for them which made me think that if he was starving, then he would eat them, but he wouldn't chose on his own to eat one. The kid down the street said that he liked them and then promptly asked for another. Who am I to deny a child happiness and bliss!
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