American Culture has been devastated. As of now, the ever-popular Hostess Twinkie is on its deathbed. A generation of Americans will grow up without having so much as a bite of a Twinkie. The Hostess business is closing, and taking an iconic piece of American culture with it.
If you love sweets as much as I do, you already understand why this is such a tragedy.
The Twinkie is a sign of American culture. Many movies and shows have featured the Twinkie, including “Ghostbusters” and “The Simpsons.” It has been the root of many jokes about Americans for decades. There is even an American stereotype of the donut and Twinkie-loving policemen. How can American culture go on without it?
The Twinkies are not the only well-loved snack to be affected. The famous chocolate Hostess Cupcakes filled with delicious cream, the Wonder bread that seems to stick to the roof of your mouth with sugar and the wonderful-tasting Ding-Dongs are about to become
extinct as well.
The first Hostess bakery was opened in 1930 in Texas. The company has since spread to 33 baking factories. Roughly 18,500 employees worked for the company in the end. Their wages were cut just weeks before the company closed, and many began to strike. As of now, only about 3,200 jobs remain to “wind down” the business. After next year, Hostess will no long employ anyone.
The New York Times reported Jan. 11 that Hostess Brands Incorporated officially broadcasted it had filed for bankruptcy because they owed a lot of money to a lot of people, and had no means to pay it back. The Hostess Brands website announced the company was trying to work with a U.S. Bankruptcy Court based in New York Nov. 21 to settle its final affairs and close the company.
I’m hoping one of these “final affairs” includes a formal burial for these beloved snacks.
If you try to go out and buy Hostess products like I did, you’ll
find that many of them are already completely sold out in nearly every store. The snacks are flying off of the shelves quicker than they ever have before. Announcing bankruptcy seems to be a great marketing tool. Although the Twinkies are disappearing from our stores, they will never disappear from our hearts.
So far, not a single company has jumped at the opportunity to buy Hostess. This is definitely a surprise to me. This would be a wonderful investment for another company, especially because of the rivalry between Hostess and Little Debbie’s. Opening a business to sell authentic Twinkies would be extremely smart with the mad rush on Hostess products. I know if I had $860 million dollars, which is the total amount of money Hostess owes to more than 100,000 debtors as reported by The New York Times, I would buy the company in a heartbeat. After all, who wouldn’t want to own an endless supply of junk food?
But before you go off on a crying tangent like I did, and believe me I did, let’s try to look at the bright side for just a moment. Maybe we don’t have to get too upset. After all, Little Debbie’s brownies, especially the ones with chocolate chips, are to die for. No pun intended.
