The story begins in 1919, when the world was introduced to what is now known as Cup Cake Hostess®, at a bargain price of two for 5 cents. It was the beginning of a revolution, right up there with the Toll House cookie and Oreo. No one had to search for a bakery or turn on the oven for a snack attack anymore. Six years later, Continental Baking Company, which had struck gold with its Wonder® packaged white bread, named its new creations Hostess and they were a hit. In 1930, an employee named Jimmy Dewar came up with a sponge cake called Twinkies®. and they outscored the cupcakes by a mile. Twinkies are an American icon, with half a billion sold each year.
But it wasn’t until 1947 that a machine was invented that injected cream filling into cupcakes and Twinkies, wowing its customers by providing not just an individually wrapped treat, but one packed with creamy filling. What idea. As other products were added to their repertoire, such as fried fruitcakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, the cupcake category was secured with no end in sight. There are currently a staggering 11,000 cakes produced every hour, so joke all you want, but Hostess is grinning from ear to ear.
Although ownership has changed several times in its history and faced bankruptcy, those sandwich cakes keep coming and their popularity continues to this day, proving to Americans that artificial cream filling and the convenience of having a sandwich cake. snacks. Fried Twinkies are a popular item at many state and regional fairs each summer, as Americans line up for the high-fat delicacy, along with stalls selling deep-fried funnel cakes. Featured in numerous movies and cookbooks, the Twinkie continues to reign supreme despite the jokes of comedians and the banter of celebrity chefs. (One has to wonder if there are any secret fans out there enjoying themselves in private.)
Although condoms are used for an extended shelf life, the company insists that Twinkies be removed from your local store after 10 days, making way for more “fresh” ones. Here’s the current hit parade of Hostess’s snack cakes:
1) Ho Ho’s – Best seller, basically a rolled up version of Ding Dongs
2) Twinkies: The butt of endless jokes, still high on the list
3) Sno Balls: marshmallow-coated chocolate cake rolled in shredded coconut
4) Ding Dongs: shaped like a hockey puck and covered in chocolate
5) Suzy Qs – unglazed cake with cream filling
6) Cherry Pies – fried and easy to eat by hand
7) Vanilla Zingers: cream-filled oblong cakes, the queen vanilla
8) Chocolate or Orange Cupcakes: The classic, complete with a white doodle on top
9) Crunch Donettes: People of all ages start their day with these mini treats (easy to eat while driving)
10) Mini Muffins – Not exactly bakery quality, but still popular
Today, the main competing brand Little Debbie, started by the McKee family during the 1930s and still a private corporation, occupies most of the space in the snack aisle, once dominated by Hostess. Their oatmeal cream cake remains the star product, followed by Swiss Cake Rolls and Nutty Bars® Wafers. Dozens of additions have been added since 1960, when the company took off across the country, amassing a staggering 157 billion snack cakes sold, totaling $1.4 billion in annual sales, followed by Hostess with 670 million. Dollars.
Maybe actress Ann Blyth just did it for the money, or maybe she really did feed her own kids snack cakes, but either way, those sweet packaged treats are produced so quickly they’re probably pretty fresh. Any way you look at it, when it comes to our sweet tooth, we’re all kids at heart.