The history of the MoonPie is one filled with charm and nostalgia. It started at the Chattanooga Bakery almost 100 years ago, in 1917. One of the bakery salesmen, Mr. Earl Mitchell Smith Sr., created the pies after visiting a company store for coal miners, where they were looking for a snack that was filling and solid. When Smith asked how big, one miner held his hand up to the moon and said, "About this big." Today the MoonPies can be found in the original size, minis, and double deckers that include two layers of creamy, marshmallow filling.

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Credit: Alexa Lampasona

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Credit: Alexa Lampasona

The Chattanooga Bakery does not offer tours of the MoonPie production facility to the public, but Atlanta Journal-Constitution got an inside look. Here we share photos of how the banana single-decker MoonPies are produced, from baking the graham cookies to assembling the sandwiches to packaging for shipment.

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Credit: Illustration: Philip Robibero / AJC