By making everything from Twinkies to those hand-size gooey fruit pies to squishy Wonder Bread, few brands have epitomized glorious retro junk food as well as the Hostess brand.
But if you only think of Hostess as the folks who make the Ding-Dongs and Ho-Hos that you can pick up at your nearby 7-Eleven, you might be amused to see the first ads below.
Those pitches from the late 1920s positioned the brand’s cakes as top-shelf gourmet food that was perfect for “exclusive teas and luncheons.”
Vintage Hostess cakes from the roaring twenties (1929)
Quick dessert needed? Just obtain this cake at your grocer’s. Then note how guests enthuse!
It is a Hostess Cake that you ask for. And a single trial will, I believe, prove its benefits to you.
Madam: If delicious, quick desserts are your aim, this advertisement brings you good news. It is about those delicious Hostess Cakes that so many women are acclaiming these days.
It tells why these cakes are recognized today as the outstanding achievement of modern baking, And how, through their utter goodness, they have banished baking from millions of homes.
It tells of their flavor, their freshness, their attractive appearance. And the painstaking methods by which they are baked…
Each Hostess Cake, you’ll find, is absolutely perfect. Fresh. Light in texture. Delightfully attractive. And we offer you a varied choice.
A Silver Bar for the children. Cup Cakes widely chosen for exclusive teas and luncheons. Rich, luscious Layer Cakes. Devil’s Foods.
“Home-like cake at a store? Certainly, Madam.” (1920s)
Housewives who take pride in serving delicious food will find plenty of good news in what Alice Adams Proctor has to say
THOUSANDS of women who buy Hostess Cakes today scoffed at the idea a year ago. The idea that cake bought in a store could compare with their own seemed preposterous.
And many of these same women are among the most enthusiastic friends of Hostess Cake. And thus they avoid the waste, the work, and the disappointment of baking cake at home. These women never worry about baking failures now…
So I guarantee a cake they can serve with perfect confidence. A cake their friends will notice and praise. A cake their husbands and children will beg them to serve again and again.
I guarantee an attractive cake, too. Hostess Chocolate Layer, for instance, will do credit to any party. It is smoothly frosted. Deliciously fresh. Guests invariably comment…
Please don’t think I am over-enthusiastic. What I have said is easy to prove. Just order one of these Hostess Cakes as a test.
Be critical. Judge it carefully. Seek your family’s frank opinion. But always be careful to demand a genuine Hostess Cake. Let your grocer distinctly understand that no ordinary cake will satisfy.
Vintage Hostess snacks: Cream-filled cupcakes (1956)
At the grocery store… do as millions of women do; pick up extra packages of Hostess creamed-filled cupcakes.
Hostess cupcakes are made of the softest cake flour… rich Devil’s Food Cake with the famous Hostess secret-blend flavor of chocolate from the Africa Gold Coast and the blue-green jungles of Brazil.
And… with a most delightful surprise inside… a creamed filling that’s light as a cloud and supremely satisfying.
Hostess Twinkies… like something made in a heavenly oven… golden sponge cake… with a creamed filling inside that melts in your mouth! And so good: whole eggs, pure sugar, shortening and non-fat milk solids go into Twinkies.
Hostess Sno-Balls: Rich Devil’s Food Cake… with a whipped lighter-than-a-cloud creamed filling in the center… all surrounded by a layer of marshmallow, and, on top, lots of tender, shredded coconut.
MORE: 33 vintage TV dinners: Fried chicken, turkey, pot roast & other fab frozen food, retro-style
Make the most of their “Wonder Years” (1966)
During the “Wonder Years” — one through twelve — your children develop in many ways — actually grow to 90% of their adult height.
To help make the most of their “Wonder Years,” serve them nutritious Wonder Bread. Every delicious slice is carefully enriched with foods for body and mind.
Serve Wonder Bread — Wonder helps build strong bodies 12 ways…and serve Hostess Fruit Pies — made with more fruit filling than crust.
Hostess turnover-shaped fruit pies are perfect, juicy pies made the little old bake-shop way — glazed to seal in that special Hostess taste!
Look for them in your favorite store… in delicious fruit flavors. Enjoy all the other fine Hostess products. too — for snacks. lunch boxes. desserts.
ALSO SEE: 100 vintage 1960s supermarkets & old-fashioned grocery stores
Vintage Hostess Ho-Hos
REMEMBER THESE? Pillsbury Space Food Sticks, the vintage snacks for astronauts that kids loved
Snack Cakes by Hostess (1970)
A major nutritional advance from Hostess — Snack Cakes with body-building vitamins and iron.
It’s the nutritional advance that takes the guesswork out of which snack cakes to buy! These famous Hostess Snack Cakes now give your children more than good taste… they give them important nutrition, too.
So, why settle for just any snack cake give them Hostess Snack Cakes fortified with body-building vitamins and iron to grow on.
Vintage Twinkies pack: Golden sponge creamed filled
Free cards with every Hostess family packs (1978)
Have fun with Hostess cupcakes and Twinkies cakes! (PS: You can get some delicious modern-day cupcake recipes here.)
NOW SEE THIS: Check out 100 vintage 1970s supermarkets & retro grocery stores
Keep’em home for breakfast with Hostess. (1984)
In today’s hurry-up world, there is only one sure-fire way of knowing your family is getting a proper breakfast. Keep them home for breakfast.
The Hostess Breakfast Bake Shop can help. It’s chock full of powdered, cinnamon, chocolate, honey wheat donuts and lots more.
NOW SEE THIS: Remember old-school packaged cookies, like Hydrox, Almost Home, Chip-a-Roos & others?
11 Responses
I can remember a cream filled chocolate sandwich, similar to a Hostess “Suzi Q”, except round and larger. Would you happen to know what these are? My Mother used to put these in my lunches back in the early and mid 1960’s. Thank you.
I have been trying to find information on them myself, to no avail. I was beginning to wonder if I imagined them.
Those were Tip Top Lucky Cakes. The cake was denser than a Suzy Q, which was more spongey. Also the filling was stiffer and less fluffy. They were usually right near the Hostess products – I used to buy them back in the 60’s and early 70’s, not sure how much longer they made them.
I moved to southern Indiana where some of the groceries sell a Boston Baking Whoopie Pie, that is a whole lot like the Lucky Cakes were, only thicker.
Oh my God I came on this site to try to find the same type of round soft cookie the one I like had strawberry filling or sometimes lemon filling or a cream filling but they were like a light brown soft cookie bigger than a cookie
Tip Top Lucky Cakes. I used to buy them in the 60’s and early 70’s. Round, cream filled, denser cake and less spongey than a Suzy Q and the cream filling was stiffer. Almost like a short Whoopie Pie. (A real one, not some marshallow fluff imitation.)
I remember eating chocolate donut sticks from Hostess in the late 60’s early 70’s. I can’t find them, am I remembering wrong?
I remember a boat like white cake (small) with a white creme inside and I think coconut flakes on the cake? I have not seen them for years and they were my favorite little cake! My beloved Grandmother Charlotte used to always buy one for me when she went shopping! I wish I could buy them again! I think but am not sure they were made by Hostess.
We baby boomers were so lucky in many ways!
Hostess made a little cake called Tiger Tails. They were similar in size to a Twinkie but had small stripes of raspberry (I think) jelly and coconut flakes on the outside. They had white creme inside. Now I want one!!
I agree 100%. We were lucky is so many ways!
Does anybody remember applesauce or applespice cupcakes? The first and only time I had them was in 1963. They were a limited or seasonal release, like the orange flavored ones.
Dear Hostess. Please bring back the Banana pie. I would appreciate it very much. Thank you…..Yours truly Maureen.
Does HOSTESS STILL MAKE A 5lb fruitcake?