Little Debbie Is A Southern Icon

A nostalgic Southern lunch box was likely filled with a few staple items—a sandwich (perhaps bologna or pineapple), a bag of chips, and a snack cake...more specifically, a Little Debbie snack cake. For almost 100 years, this Southern brand based in Collegedale, Tennessee, has brought smiles to the young and young at heart. But did you know Little Debbie is not only a famous confectionary brand but a real person too? 

History of Little Debbie

Debbie McKee-Fowler is the granddaughter of the brand's founder O.D. McKee. O.D. and his wife, Ruth, founded McKee Foods in 1934. O.D. had spent some time selling Virginia Dare cakes out of his car and found he could successfully support his growing family through door-to-door sweets. Selling cakes morphed into purchasing Jack’s Cookie Company which later became the impetus for McKee Foods. According to the company’s fact sheet, McKee became the first bakery “to sell individually wrapped cakes in a multipack carton.” In 1960, the company introduced the Little Debbie brand that Americans have come to know and love. 

Who is Little Debbie?

When it came to marketing, O.D. correctly surmised his granddaughter would be the perfect face for his booming small cake company. Her portrait made its way onto boxes and onto grocery store shelves throughout the country. Today, Debbie holds the position of Executive Vice President and serves on the McKee Foods Board of Directors, and the family is heavily involved in their small-town community.

Little Debbie Today

In the summer of 2023, Collegedale revealed Little Debbie Park, a 10-acre multi-use park that sits on land donated by the McKees. The landscape is dotted with trees, shrubs, and flowers native to Tennessee, and the extensive variety of species allows the park to be designated as an arboretum. Rusty McKee, an Executive Vice President at McKee Foods who happens to be Debbie’s brother, says his favorite area is Mustard Seed Hill. “I call it that because it took a lot of faith to move that much earth to create a 31-foot feature. The hill creates a natural barrier between the park and a residential area while preserving the beautiful view of the Tennessee skies,” he says.

While the greenspace certainly draws a crowd, visitors especially enjoy the life-sized play structures resembling favorite snacks such as the oatmeal creme pie, cosmic brownies, and yes, the ever-popular Christmas tree cake. At Little Debbie Park, you can climb on a cake (and maybe eat one, too!).