Somewhere in the newspaper's catacombs, where old papers, dusty Christmas decorations and unwanted office supplies go to die, you might find a 20-year-old package of Twinkies.

Call it a science experiment or urban legend debunking or simply news wonks trying to be clever.

The more seasoned, more facetious members of the newsroom, whose wit I could never match, decided to test the adage that Twinkies never die by placing a sealed pair on someone's desk.

One desk in particular.

"I was the keeper of the Twinkie, actually," Dyrinda Tyson, who designed our front pages back then, told me on Facebook. "It was a mean-spirited slap at someone originally, but it became an object of curiosity and maybe scientific endeavor mostly curiosity though."

Tyson, to this fresh, impressionable reporter and sometimes copy editor, was the Queen of Clever.

So the Twinkies sat on her desk, and we waited.

Days went by.

The Twinkies seemed to remain fresh. The sponge cake rebounded with each poke.

The delicious cream filling was white and enticing.

Read the original:
Watson: Treat's longevity a thing of wonder