The Oldest American Snack Cake Is Still On The Shelves Today

There's something so nostalgic about biting into classic snack cakes. As the tastes and textures of chocolate, sponge cake, cream, caramel, and other flavors meld together in a moment of sugary bliss, they harken back to simpler times when a snack cake felt like a real treat. Snack cakes continue to be a multi-billion-dollar industry, but they're also pieces of culinary history, particularly the Hostess CupCake, the oldest American snack cake that still delights snackers of all ages.

Introduced in 1919, the original Hostess CupCake was markedly different from the one customers know today. Continental Baking (which later became Hostess) began operations in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1919 and introduced a CupCake that was simply that, a chocolate cupcake. The snack sold for 5 cents each and was the nation's first commercially produced cupcake.

Having been around for more than 100 years, snackers of any age have fond memories of Hostess CupCake. This chocolatey cupcake with a signature vanilla squiggle on top has stood the test of time even as Hostess has introduced even more snacks and treats and other snack cakes have become arguably as iconic. It's more than 10 years older than the Twinkie, more than 30 years older than the honey bun, and about 45 years older than many of Little Debbie's most iconic treats.

The Hostess CupCake may have been an innovator in 1919, but it didn't gain some of its most famous trademarks until years later. Following Word War II, D.R. "Doc" Rice gave the CupCake its famous touches: a cream filling center, the same creme in a Twinkie, and its signature squiggle to stand out from the competition. There are actually seven squiggles on each cupcake, and customers are quick to notice when the famous topping is a little off.

As the snacking craze boomed in America, so too did the popularity of CupCakes, which were often featured in the pages of popular comic books to appeal to children. While the original CupCakes remain popular, Hostess has seized on the snack's appeal through the years to offer variations on it. In addition to the original CupCakes, snackers can sample flavors like frosted sugar cookie, orange, strawberry, golden, and birthday cake. The iconic chocolate flavor has also been made into an ice cream, though it doesn't appear to be available anymore. With new Hostess treats planned for the future, it's a safe bet there will be at least a few new varieties of CupCakes to enjoy.