Tastykake is marking its 100th anniversary on Tuesday. The maker of treats such as Butterscotch Krimpets and Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes celebrated at its Navy Yard headquarters Tuesday.
It's a jingle that triggers a Pavlovian response in many Philadelphian's.
"Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake."
The Tastykake tune sticks in your head.
But Tastykakes pre-date the TV watching baby boomers. They were a taste of home for Philadelphia GI's in World War II, and a sweet success all the way back to the time of horse drawn delivery wagons.
"Tastykake was founded 100-years-ago today, February 25th, 1914," said Tastykake President Paul Ridder.
Today, employees and VIP's celebrated with a Cake made of Tastykakes as a fleet of delivery trucks roared off to 100 locations to Kake over the city dropping off free treats to various places including food banks and the Red Cross.
The Philadelphian-born company is now part of a larger national firm, Flowers foods.
It retains its infatuation with the letter K, as in Kake and Krimpets which are the stuff of childhood memories.
"1970's, my grandmother's house in Port Richmond on Aramingo Avenue," said Lt. Governor Jim Cawley. "Having her serve me butterscotch Krimpets; at the time they were wrapped in wax paper."
So where did the word Krimpet come from?
"In 1927, the Krimpet was just a rectangular piece of cake. It was very moist, and every time they would take it out of the pan it would break apart," explained Ridder.
The story goes, they did some head scratching at the old Hunting Park Plant, and figured they needed to do some pinching or crimping.
"In order to fix this problem you have to take pans and crimp it, push the edges in a little bit edge to make in stronger, and that phrase Krimpet stuck," said Ridder.
In its first day of sales, Tastykake sold $28 worth of cakes at 10 cents apiece; that was back in 1914.
By the end of the week, the gross was $222, but by the end of the year, sales hit $300,000. And after that... well as they say the rest is history.
In addition, the snack company will introduce a limited edition Birthday Kake Cupcake.
Tastykake made 100 cakes on its first day of business in 1914. Now, it produces nearly 5 million cakes, doughnuts, cookies and pies each day.
Tasty Baking Co. became part of Georgia-based Flowers Foods Inc. in 2011.
