The Sweet Saga of Twinkies
How a Depression-era snack cake became a modern-day pop culture icon
This is the story of an American brand that became bigger than life. The tale begins in 1919 when a Midwestern firm, the Continental Baking Company, introduced a snack cake called the Hostess CupCake. Cupcakes had been baked in America since the early 1800s, but Hostess packaged the confection for national distribution. The CupCake was so popular it led to an entire line of Hostess sweet treats.
A New Snack Cake is Born
In 1930, when strawberries were out of season, a bakery machine used to fill pans with strawberry shortcake sat idle at a Continental Baking Company plant in Illinois. An employee named James Dewar came up with a way to keep the machine running. He created a new snack cake made of golden sponge cake and filled with cream. Bananas were easy to get, so he concocted a banana-flavored cream filling.
Dewar named the new snack cake “Twinkies.” Why? Because he happened to see a billboard for “Twinkle Toe Shoes” and he changed “Twinkle” to “Twinkie.” Yup, it was that simple — unlike brands of today that go through a costly, elaborate naming process.
Twinkies were sold in packages of two for just five cents. They were an affordable indulgence — a perfect way to…
