My dad had a lot in common with TV’s Archie Bunker. Oh, he wasn’t a bigot like Arch, but he did love his Hostess Twinkies and would voice his displeasure to mom if there weren’t any in the lunch box when the old man was working out of town. Archie called Twinkies “The white man’s soul food.” I don’t know if dad would go that far..or if he even had a clue about what soul food is but he, like millions of Americans loved those little blonde cake logs stuffed with a sweet white vanilla concoction and was never concerned about terms like “shelf life” or “junk food.” I mention this only because Hostess, the maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, is going out of business, closing plants, laying off its 18,500 workers and putting its brands up for sale.
Hostess says a nationwide strike by the baker’s union has crippled its ability to make and deliver its products that include cream-filled cupcakes, Snoballs, Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s, Dolly Madison and many other pies and pastries found in thousands of grocery and convenience stores around the country.
I’m fighting the urge to say “iconic” but in this case the term really fits this company that’s been around for generations and survived ever increasing criticism by the anti-processed foods crowd who point to Hostess as one of the big reasons our kids are fat and unhealthy. They’ve succeeded in turning school lunches into vegetable gardens that wind up in the garbage apparently believing that it’s better for children to go hungry than let them have food they like..including a Twinkie now and then. The closing is also going to shorten the act of South Dakota’s longtime comedians, Williams and Ree who even wrote a song about their favorite pastries.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSbccKL1de4[/youtube]Sadly, Wonder Bread which has been around since the twenties and helps build strong bodies 8…then 12 ways..will also crumble with the Hostess closure.My first exposure to Wonder Bread was through television, of course. The commercial which showed how Wonder was made from batter, not dough, which meant no holes. It also was packed with nutritious ingredients that would make me grow up strong and healthy. Howdy Doody and Clarabelle endorsed it..and they wouldn’t lie to kids right?[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhD_13mbJQY[/youtube]I know there are two sides to every story and I suppose the baker’s union has its reasons for the work stoppage but now they’re totally out of a job. How is that good? I hope congress is better at sorting out compromises. But what do I know? I suppose I’m just ticked off that now I’ll never get a chance to try one of those deep friend Twinkies at the fair.