In, The Nine, Twinkies are a staple of Gabe's black market shop in Scrapyard City. For many of us who live Topside (and not in hell), these snack cakes are just a cheap junk food enjoyed by kids, but Twinkies date back to 1930 and were the brainchild of James Dewar, manager of a baking plant in Illinois. The economy was getting tight and the company needed to create a low-priced item. The Twinkie was born (and sold in packets of two for a nickel). Some fun Twinkie Facts:
They were originally made with banana cream until the depression hit, and bananas were in short supply. The filling then became vanilla and has been that way ever since.
Early Twinkies were filled manually with a contraption that was pedaled with the worker's feet.
No surprise, but Dewar was not a health nut. At 83, he was quoted as saying, “I eat Twinkies every day and smoke a pack and a half of cigarettes. I weight 160 pounds, same as I ever did, and I feel fine.” He lived to be 88.
Contrary to popular urban myths, Twinkies do have a shelf life --45 days.
The current official world record for most Twinkies eaten in 1 minute is 14 Twinkies, a record set by competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi.
How many do you think you can eat in 1 minute?
C.G.Harris is the author of the sci-fi series, The Rax and the urban fantasy series, The Judas Files.. The Nine, book one in the series, is now available as an audiobook narrated by the talented, MacLeod Andrews.
Interesting trivia! I'd heard about the banana flavor, but I didn't know it had anything to do with the Depression. How do Twinkies pair with Scotch?