Did you know one of our favorite snack cakes is made right here in the Southern Appalachians?
Little Debbie's were created by O.D. McKee in Collegedale, Tennessee just a few miles from Ringgold, Georgia.
He began selling cakes for 5 cents for Becker's Bakery in his 1928 Whippet which he would take the backseat out of the family's vehicle during the week so he could use it for sales.
In 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression, O.D. began experimenting with some hard oatmeal cookies that his little shop was baking at the time. He made some formula changes to make the cookie soft and sandwiched two of the cookies together with a creamy fluffy filling in the middle and needless to say the oatmeal creme pie was born! He sold these cookies for 5 cents each.
In 1954, the McKee family purchased a bakery called "King's Bakery" and in 1962 renamed the business to McKee Baking Company.
3 years later in 1957, a new plant was built in Collegedale to keep up with the demand of the newfound snack goods and they also created an all-new line of snack cakes as well.
The name Little Debbie originated from O.D. McKee's granddaughter Debbie who he said to be the perfect face of the treats and on August 23, 1960, the brand was born.
Decades of new snack cakes later developed including Swiss Cake Rolls in 1962, Strawberry Shortcake Rolls in 1966, Fudge Brownies in 1969, Star Crunch Cookies in 1970, Devil Squares in 1972, Fudge Rounds in 1975, Peanut Butter Crunch in 1977, Donut Sticks in 1983, Holiday Christmas Tree Cakes in 1985, Fig Bars, Chocolate Chip Cakes and Fancy Cakes in 1986, Devil Cremes in 1988, Frosted Fudge Cakes in 1989, Pecan Spinwheels in 1992, Honey Buns and Cosmic Brownies in 1999, Chocolate Chip Creme Pies in 2003, Chocolate Cupcakes in 2009 and Peanut Butter Creme Pies in 2014.
As you can see there are lots of snack cakes to choose from and to this day you still visit the Little Debbie Bakery in Collegedale, Tennessee and buy your own cakes and to be quite honest they are cheaper at the bakery versus the store.