So Long, Twinkies: Hostess Closes Its Doors

I never realized that the three bigs of the snack cake world were ladies--Hostess, Dolly Madison, and Little Debbie. Hardly relevant now, as the Hostess with the mostest (fame, icon status) is no longer.

On the verge of bankruptcy for some time and after failing to reach an agreement on wage and pension cuts with its bakers' union, Hostess has shuttered. And along with it, such iconic brand names as Twinkies and Wonder Bread.

Now, I'll be honest, I can't remember the last time I had a Hostess product. The legendary snack cake maker always sported higher prices than the seemingly more ubiquitous Little Debbie, and those are the cakes to which most folks I know gravitated.

But while there aren't better quickie desserts on this planet than Little Debbie Star Crunch or Oatmeal Creme Pies, Hostess had the bigger names. They got here first, for one thing. Hostess Brands, Inc. has been around since 1930. Twinkies have been a lunchbox staple for time immemorial.

But business is business, and I can't help but think that the Little Debbie that could, did. Again, it's a much cheaper brand and has a much, much wider selection of snack cake choices.

That said, it is the end of an era. No more Twinkies, Ho-Ho's, Sno-Balls (good riddance, you ask me), Cup Cakes, Fruit Pies, or the greatest of all snack cakes, the Ding Dong--although they haven't really been the same since they stopped being wrapped in foil.

We'll survive. We'll all move on. We'll live to eat another snack cake another day.

Star Crunch, anyone?