But you may not know that Little Debbie was very much a real person. Little Debbie is the granddaughter of O.D. McKee, who founded the snack cake company along with his wife and business partner, Ruth. It all started during the Great Depression, when almost a quarter of the United States was unemployed and desperate, including the McKees.

The Little Debbie brand itself came to be in 1960, which is when McKee started selling the family packs of snack cakes we're all familiar with today. Unlike many other food mascots, Little Debbie is a real person. In fact, she's a member of the McKee Family, and today she's an executive vice president at McKee Foods.