# The end of the Twinkie? Strike threatens Hostess **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249 "2012-04-19T05:24:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/41 "2012-11-16T14:29:33Z")
I agree that Little Debbie is generally better, but I do enjoy the occasional Twinkie. I imagine someone will buy the recipes, but they’ll probably just make the products in their existing facilities, which means those Hostess employees are still out of their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/42 "2012-11-16T14:37:24Z")
Eh. I grew up in Tastykake Country. Never did see the attraction of Twinkies, and the Tastykake cupcakes and pies are better. But yeah, I’m sorry for the people who are losing their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/43 "2012-11-16T14:51:46Z")
I 'm glad Dan White isn’t alive to see this day… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/44 "2012-11-16T14:58:15Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I 'm glad Dan White isn’t alive to see this day… I can get behind 3/5 of that sentiment. Looks like Fruit Pie the Magician couldn’t pull any tricks out of his hat to save the company. Twinky the Kid’s horse had a flat and he showed up too late. Captain Cupcake’s tugboat sprang a leak. It’s kind of sad…the great middle ground of snack foods is now barren. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/45 "2012-11-16T15:07:34Z")
If Twinkies are gone, what will people fry now? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/46 "2012-11-16T15:09:00Z")
> [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > Not even close to accurate. Enriched wheat flour, sugar, and corn syrup are the top three ingredients. Here’s a [full list of ingredients](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie). No edible plastic here! 😃 > > [There’s an awful lot of misinformation about twinkies flying around this thread, regarding shelf life and such](http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/twinkies.asp). I always wonder how these ideas get so deeply rooted and widely believed. Obligatory re-post of important [facts](http://www.twinkiesproject.com) about Twinkies and their physical attributes. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/47 "2012-11-16T15:14:43Z")
The downward spiral began when they stopped using the name King Don for the Ding Dong. Long live the King. The King is dead. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/48 "2012-11-16T15:28:08Z")
I’ll miss the fruit pies a little bit, but that’s all. Alert!! _Mrs. Cubbison’s Stuffing_ is a Hostess product. If you are a lazy Thanksgiving cook, you might want to plan for it not being there next week. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/49 "2012-11-16T15:31:47Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > If Twinkies are gone, what will people fry now? All I know is that I’m glad I ate that Deep Fried Twinkie at Fremont Street in Vegas. Even though it was gross and I threw half of it out. Been there, done that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/50 "2012-11-16T15:37:00Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Alert!! _Mrs. Cubbison’s Stuffing_ is a Hostess product. If you are a lazy Thanksgiving cook, you might want to plan for it not being there next week. Pepperidge Farms makes a quite decent analog. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/51 "2012-11-16T15:45:51Z")
Stove Top instead of Mrs. Cubbison’s. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/52 "2012-11-16T15:48:07Z")
I agree that no way Hostess gets to just close their doors. The creditors will sell of the brand name and production facilities and the workers will be back to work without a cushy contract by the end of January. I’m betting on Bimbo being at the head of the line to buy up the lot. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/53 "2012-11-16T15:53:21Z")
It almost doesn’t seem possible that a company that was so ubiquitous could go away. I mean, everything they made (with the possible exception of that stuffing) was a household name. Is there any consensus why? It’s not like Americans have been on a health kick and shunning junk food for the last decade. > [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > When I was a kid in the '70s and '80s I only knew of Hostess Cupcakes and Twinkies through seeing full-page ads in my comics. > > They were like some unattainable sweet junk-food Nirvana of which, sadly, I felt I would never have a chance to partake; they weren’t available in my neck of the Canadian woods. I actually had a similar experience with Dolly Madison. Their stuff wasn’t available in the west (or at least the northwest) when I was a kid. Maybe it still isn’t. But they sponsored all the _Peanuts_ specials on TV. I don’t believe I ever got to experience a Zinger. According to Wikipedia, Dolly Madison is owned by Hostess, whose products were plentiful in my area. I don’t know if they owned them at the time, though. > [@silenus](#): > > I’ll miss the fruit pies a little bit, but that’s all. One of my guilty pleasures is (was) the blackberry pie. That one is not available in the east (where I now live), but I’d usually have one on my trips back home. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/54 "2012-11-16T16:02:16Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I actually had a similar experience with Dolly Madison. Their stuff wasn’t available in the west (or at least the northwest) when I was a kid. Maybe it still isn’t. But they sponsored all the _Peanuts_ specials on TV. I don’t believe I ever got to experience a Zinger. Might just be the northwest (or maybe it happened later–I was a kid in the 70s)–I had Zingers often in my school lunches in elementary school in southern California. They came in 3-packs. That kind of blows my mind in today’s healthy-food era, but they did. And they were better back then, too. The frosting was different, at least on the chocolate ones. You could peel it off in one big piece and eat it separately. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/55 "2012-11-16T16:09:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Hostess is [going out](http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-says-it-will-liquidate/?hp) of business. While their brands may be sold off, Hostess is, well, toastess, and will lay off most of its 18,500 employees, probably before Christmas. I don’t know much about this other than what’s [here](http://www.seattlepi.com/news/texas/article/Hostess-moves-to-liquidate-after-crippling-strike-4043395.php) but it looks like those 18,000 workers may have had a hand in cooking their own goose. \*Hostess Brands Inc. says it’s going out of business after striking workers across the country crippled its ability to make its Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other snacks. The company had warned employees that it would file a motion with U.S. Bankruptcy Court Friday seeking permission to shutter its operations and sell its brands if plants hadn’t resumed normal operations by a Thursday evening deadline. The deadline passed without a deal.\* Bad news and bad timing all the way around. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/56 "2012-11-16T16:09:46Z")
I think it’s my fault. Used to really like their fruit pies. And then I had an epiphany some time in my early 20’s. Which was “Hey, even as a guilty pleasure, this stuff is terrible.” So it’s been 30 years since I’ve bought any sort of Hostess product. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/57 "2012-11-16T16:12:22Z")
The chocolate twinkies are awful. It doesn’t matter someone will buy at least the name and use that. Did Hostess change Zingers to Hostess, when they bought out Dolly Madison. Kind of like the Abercrombie and Fitch of today has only the name in common with the A&F from the first part of the 1900s ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/58 "2012-11-16T16:14:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Is there any consensus why? It’s not like Americans have been on a health kick and shunning junk food for the last decade. They’ve gone through bankruptcy twice in the past decade, they’ve had, IIRC, 6 CEOs in the past 9 years, and they’re currently owned by a group of investment firms. From what I’ve read, this was not the first time that they’d gone to the unions looking for concessions. To what extent they simply didn’t have a viable business model, versus union intractability, managerial incompetence or the ownership just trying to milk the company for money, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/59 "2012-11-16T16:19:20Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > According to Wikipedia, Dolly Madison is owned by Hostess, whose products were plentiful in my area. I don’t know if they owned them at the time, though. Not back then, no. Dolly Madison (and Butternut bread) were originally made by Interstate Brands, while Hostess (and Wonder bread) were made by Continental Baking. The two companies merged in 1995, and were eventually renamed Hostess Brands. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249/60 "2012-11-16T16:28:29Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If they’re going into liquidation, that means someone else is going to buy those brand names and continue manufacturing those products. Like I said back in April, Bimbo or Little Debbie’s would no doubt _love_ to get their hands on those product lines and have one less competitor in the baked goods retail market. Not necessarily. They may buy them in order to retire them, so that no one else will get them. Not Twinkies, since that brand name is worth a lot, but some of the other ones probably will. It will most likely be those that aren’t that popular and have other versions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-end-of-the-twinkie-strike-threatens-hostess/619249.md?page=4)