Twinkie: 1930-2012
Cause of death: union strike, corporate greed, consumers pursuing healthier foods
Born in Schiller, Illinois in 1930, Twinkie was the brainchild of James Dewar who wanted to make a shortcake filled originally with banana cream because strawberries were out of season. During WWII, Twinkie was reborn with vanilla cream due to the shortage of bananas. Twinkie got its name when Dewar saw a St. Louis billboard for "Twinkle Toe Shoes".
The Twinkie lived a long life of 82 years,
and gained more prominence in the headlines when in 1978 the term
"Twinkie Defense" made its way into our modern slogan vocabulary when
Dan White murdered George Moscone and Harvey Milk...This was before the
term "postal" made its way into our slogan vocabulary and White's
defense lawyer used junk food and depression as a means to get him him a
lesser sentence... Of course, as is most often the case the media
misleadingly named White's defense "The Twinkie Defense".
The Twinkie found its way into lunch boxes, after school snacks, night raids in the kitchen and was made up of:
Wheat
flour, Folic acid, Niacin, Thiamine mononitrate, Riboflavin,Iron. (The
ingredient in Twinkies is ferrous sulfate, an iron
compound.),Sugar,Water, Corn syrup,High fructose corn syrup,Vegetable
shortening,Animal shortening,Whole eggs,Dextrose,Modified
cornstarch,Corn flour,Glucose,Baking soda,Monocalcium phosphate,Sodium
acid pyrophosphate,Sweet dairy whey,Soy protein isolate,Calcium
caseinate,Sodium caseinate,Soy flour, Salt, Soy flour,Diglyceride,
Polysorbate 60,Corn dextrin,Soy lecithin,Cornstarch,Cellulose gum,Sodium
stearoyl lactylate,Sorbic acid,FD&C Yellow #5,Red 40.
It is
clear that Twinkie was better looking on the outside than it was on the
inside...Twinkie also is joined in death by brother Ding Dong who also
lived a life of lunch boxes, after school snacks and kitchen night raids
as well as cravings for chocolate.
It has been rumored that Twinkie had a shelf life of years, but in truth, the shelf life of the vanilla cream filled shortcake is 25 days.
Twinkie will be missed and has served its legacy. Let us bow our heads and bid farewell.
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