FILE - This Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, file photo, shows, Hostess Twinkies in a studio in New York. Hostess Brands Inc. announced Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, that it is warning striking employees that it will move to liquidate the company if plant operations don't return to normal levels by Thursday evening. The maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread said Thursday it will file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court to shutter operations if enough workers don't return by 5 p.m. EST. That would result in the loss of about 18,000 jobs.( AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (Mark Lennihan)

View the story "The Twinkie will live on - probably" on StorifyThe Twinkie will live on - probablyEven if the brand's owner, Hostess, carries through on its threats and goes into liquidation, one of the prime assets that'll go on the auction block will be the right to make Twinkies. Still, even the threat makes a great excuse to look back at this only-in-America food.Storified by Digital First Media · Fri, Nov 16 2012 10:29:07Even if the brand's owner, Hostess, carries through on its threats and goes into liquidation, one of the prime assets that'll go on the auction block will be the right to make Twinkies. Still, even the remote possibility that the yellow spongecake with the mysterious sweet filling could go extinct makes a great excuse to look back at this only-in-America food.ApexchangeA Hostess Twinkies sign is shown at the Utah Hostess plant in Ogden on Nov. 15. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)Wikipedia offers this crumb of Twinkie history:

Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park, Illinois in 1930 by

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Alexander_Dewar" class="mw-redirect">James Alexander DewarContinental Baking Company[1]shortcakestrawberriesbanana

Classic TV ads

Classic Twinkies CommercialasteriskpixMaybe it was just that the 70s were a strange time for advertising, or maybe the indestructible treat lends itself to the surreal, but Twinkie the Kid (a cowboy with a lasso, of course) was the star of these commercials. They appeared on Saturday mornings when the networks ran cartoons.1970 Hostess Twinkies commercial with Twinkie the Kidwookiecookie

In the beginning

Google Image Result for http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/01/11/dining/dj-twinkie/dj-twinkie-articleInline.jpgGoogleA Twinkies ad from the 1930s. (AP)Google Image Result for http://healthyliving.blog.ocregister.com/files/2010/04/Twinkie_blog3.jpgGoogleA Twinkies ad from the 1950s. (Via ocregister.com)

Twinkies as American meme

Twinkies permeate our culture, on shelves, at state fairs, in the movies, on TV and online.The deep-fried Twinkie. 'Nuff said.HdnuxA deep-fried Twinkie. 'Nuff said. (San Antonio Express-News file photo)Google Image Result for http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/twinkies-bake-set.jpgGoogleThe do-it-yourself Twinkie, shown here at doobybrain.com.BlogspotThe beef Twinkie - Gotcha. The storied snack is often the subject of parody. The image above appears to have been made by user mcdj18 on the site worth1000.com. It won fifth place in a contest to create "wacky snacks."

Twinkies stay "fresh" so long that people have been known to refer to their half-life rather than their shelf life. Ghostbusters - Big Twinkieghostbustersdotnet"Ghostbusters'" geek Egon used a Twinkie as a powerful analogy to explain the increasingly dire situation in New York City as the evil Zuul's influence was grew.

And there are many of other movie and TV references to Twinkies - either metaphorical or delicious - cataloged on IMDB.

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