The Twinkie-Like Hostess Snack From The '70s That You'll Probably Never Get To Eat Again

The Twinkie is an iconic of American pop culture. It's been around since 1930, over a million get eaten every day, it was referenced in "Ghostbusters"— the whole bit. The idea that Twinkies last forever due to being packed with preservatives is unfounded, and their sales have slowed considerably in recent years, but as a concept, they're certainly built to last. But they did not spring fully formed out of Hostess' forehead, not least because they were invented before Hostess even existed. They were originally banana-flavored, for one thing; for another, they had a chocolate-flavored brother called the Chocodile back in the 1970s.

What's a Chocodile? Well, it's literally just a Twinkie coated in chocolate. It's a concept so simple that we're honestly surprised it didn't catch on to the same extent as its blonde counterpart. Not that it did terribly for itself, mind you; introduced in 1977, it managed to stick around for over a decade before going away sometime in the 1990s. And it didn't hurt that it had a lovable mascot, Chauncey Chocodile, who sold the cake with the slogan, "It takes a while to eat a Chocodile." (Presumably this was to indicate that it made you want to slow down and savor the experience, and not that you had to complete a logic puzzle to open the wrapper or something.)

Of course, what is dead may never die, especially not when it comes to nostalgic Gen-Xers with disposable income. Hostess decided to revive Chocodile Twinkies in 2014, although unfortunately, it didn't revive Chauncey Chocodile to go with it. (They were sold with the usual, vaguely menacing cowboy mascot, Twinkie the Kid.) In 2017, the Chocodile was rebooted again, this time as a fudge-covered Twinkie and a bit larger. Unfortunately, these also appear to be unavailable for purchase, and Chocodile is now just another discontinued Hostess product we'll probably never eat again.

It's a shame, because it's clear that plenty of people are nostalgic for these cakes. "Chocodiles were my jam," said one Redditor; another, apparently a true chocolatemaxxer, described their ideal snack as a child. "I loved these ... 2 chocodiles and either a yoohoo , or a chocolate nutrament drink from 711 [sic]." It makes sense why we don't see them anymore. Hostess may have been saved from bankruptcy, but that doesn't mean it's going to bring back every single item for which anyone's ever carried a torch. But at the same time ... well, it's a Twinkie coated in chocolate. You'd have to try pretty hard to mess that up, wouldn't you?