End Of Another American Food Icon - Hostess Bakery Shutting Down

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I believe Silvercup may still be available in Chicago...it may be an Alpha Baking brand. It was always fun visiting my grandparents and shopping at the Jewels or Dominicks and seeing stuff we didn't get at home....Jays Potato Chips in boxes, Hills Bros coffee, and Butternut/Silvercup/Holsum bread
 
The vultures are circling...

If you're really having that Twinkie (or hoho, DingDong, Chocodile, etc) urge, well then! eBay is the place to go for bargains of the century! You can buy A box of 10, yes 10!, Twinkies for the low, paltry price of anywhere from $100 up to $100,000. And if you buy it now, free shipping is offered...

Want to feel good spending $9,800 for a box of ten? Well, here's a listing that states that all proceeds from the sale will go to Toys For Tots! Yeah... How about I write the check directly to Toys For Tots and you give me the Twinkies...

What I hope for is to see the company purchased by another and brought back to life. Not only for the sakes of the workers and their families but to see the eBay whores suddenly see their golden dreams of lust quickly degenerate into dust covered hordes of calories worth less than a buck per...

RCD

 
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I saw a CL ad that was I think intentionally vague on price and quantity.  It was either 5,000 items or $5,000.  If it was the former, it makes me wonder of some of the last delivery trucks ever made it to the retailer.  At this point, who would care?
 
The Wonder Bread ad slogan I remember was,

"Builds Strong Bodies Twelve Ways"

I gather that the "Twelve Ways" was in reference to the enrichment of the wheat flour that went into the bread - you know, the basic vitamins and minerals, with perhaps the protein and carbs as well.

I also recall that since ALL breads sold in the USA have to have enriched flour, by law (I think), the government leaned on Hostess to drop the slogan because it was misleading.
 
I was thinking the same thing, Ralph. As the doors were locked, the trucks parked and the employees given the pointed shoe in the arse, did a few things go with them? One would wonder about the product still in the system. It would expire eventually anyway, right?

RCD
 
Silvercup bread went out of business sometime in the later 80's, early 90's. Their bakery building is now known as "Silvercup Studios" which acts as a studio for Hollywood film making in Chicago. Lots of famous movies have been shot there.
 
Greedy bastards bleed their companies dry then blame the uni

While I would certainly not disagree with you on the first part, Ken, the unions themselves also have a hand in bleeding a company dry. Even the teamsters, not a typically business-friendly bunch, made concessions in an effort to keep the company going. And, they suggested their brethern in the bakery unions take a similar path by holding a secret ballot. You can just about bet your bottom dollar that had the ballot taken place, none of this would be happening because people would have given up a little to save their jobs.

I don't agree that the fat cats in the company should have gotten the salaries they did. But I also don't agree that the fat cats in the unions, who will still get paid if Hostess goes under (you know there'll be several other companys waiting to buy up what they can and Twinkie The Kid will ride again) should be making a decision like this for the people who will lose their jobs, when they themselves likely have little at stake.

But, that's just my opinion. Maybe I'm over-simplifying.

Chuck
 
>Wonder Bread was the primary sponsor for Howdy Doody.

Another big promoter for Wonder Bread/Hostess products was Captain Kangaroo.

Ann Blyth was also a spokesperson for them quite a few years as well.
 
Back in the mid-80's I helped a family friend sort through the contents of a 1937 home whose last resident was a major pack rat.  One of the many things I took out of there was a small roll of old-school waxed wrapping paper for loaves of Wonder Bread.  I used it as wrapping paper for gifts.

 

Maybe it was a coastal thing, as my memory is the same as Rich's.  The slogan for Wonder Bread was "Helps build strong bodies twelve ways." 

 

We never had Wonder Bread in our house.  It was either the store brand or something more adult.  The one I remember distinctly was "Aunt Martha's."  Those slices were nearly twice as wide as the average, and had to be cut in half to fit the toaster.
 
@Laundress:

Yes, those old McDonald's pies were good because they took a dip in the deep fryer. Apple or Cherry, they were hot and yummy.

And back then, McDonald's used to use fry grease that was made out of all kinds of stuff, including beef tallow.

I totally agree that the pies of today are a complete waste of time. Flavorless filling wrapped in a limp pastry shell. Sad.
 
Yes, those old McDonald's pies were good because they to

When they started baking them, I pretty much stopped buying them. They were so bad, but so good... the few times I'd treat myself to them!

Chuck
 
@sp2813:

People from that time used what they had.

My Grandma would fit into the same category. When we moved her into the nursing home, she had hundreds of empty bread bags stashed away (among other things). But plastic bread bags predated "Baggies" by years. She used to take the Sunbeam bread bags, turn them inside out, wash them and use them to wrap Grandpa's lunch when he went off to work...

Kinda funny when the grocery stores now have the plastic grocery bag redemption center now, and try to talk you into buying the reusable grocery bags that only cost $1.00 per each.
 
@dirtybuck:

I used to watch Captain Kangaroo! And the Dancing Bear.

But I used to drive my mom crazy when that show had "Fred on Channel One".

I complained to Mom that our TV dial started at 2, and I wanted to be able to see Fred on Channel One.

Dad said be glad we have the 3 channels that we get and get over it.

Good times!
 
Wax paper has its uses, but as a sandwich wrapping it leaves a lot to be desired. I remember many a stale, dried out baloney sandwich that my mom packed for me in wax paper. Even worse were the PB&J sandwiches. The jelly would seep into one side, leaving it soggy, while the side with the PB would be dry and curled. Oh such memories.

I also don't think we got Wonder Bread so much, but I do remember those balloons on the wrappers. Once in a while my dad would bake bread, and that was a real treat.
 
@sudsmaster:

You should be so lucky as to go to school with a PB&J.

Nowadays there are lots of kids at school that are allergic to a PB&J.

So when I send mine, she gets isolated from the rest of the school, so as not to do something bad to a kid with allergies. And that's fine, because I know we had no idea that was a bad thing 40 years ago.

Tofu is non-controversial so far as I can tell.

Being a reasonably smart kid, she asked last week, what do you think I can have in my birthday cake?
 
Wonder Bread was the one that had "round" loaves at one time. This would have been back in the 60's. They advertised that your cold cuts are usually round, why not have a bread to match? My mother used to complain that Wonder Bread and Roman Meal bread was just too expensive for what you got.

My mother always bought Silvercup bread. I still remember when bread came in a "wax paper/paper" covering. This was before plastic bags.

I had an aunt that used to keep her bread in the refrigerator to keep it from going bad too soon. But I later heard that doing this actually speeds up the "not fresh" process.

A bakery company I would never, ever buy anything from would be Pepperage Farms.
My sister's husband worked there part time while in college. He worked at the Downers Grove location. According to him (which I was able to verify later with others) is that place was what you call a "hole".

The supervisors were king of micromanagers. You had a "quota" of the amount of work you had to do. If you didn't fill your quota each week you'd be canned. And if you were 1 minute late for work, they'd send you home on a "sick day". They wanted you to be at your station 15 minutes before you start your job. And if you were more than 3 times late you'd get sacked. They paid well, but for the money you had to put up with a lot of abuse. I heard that every 30 days or so they had almost a complete turnover of employees.

 
Was it me...

<span style="font-size: medium;">Or did all school lunchrooms reek of sour milk and food that had gone bad? I always brought my own lunch to school, so I joined the other kids that did, while the ones in the lunch program sat in the other side of the cafeteria. I sure didn't envy them. </span>

 

<span style="font-size: medium;">I remember Wonder bread quite well. It was usually the brand mom bought, along with seeded Italian bread and bialys from local bakeries.
</span>
 

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