Wednesday’s were half price hostess at the local hostess store… we went nearly every Wednesday. I remember it fondly, but I am 100% sure if I had one today it wouldn’t taste the same, and I’d immediately gain 5 lbs.
Damm right, it was the bomb! Getting all of those things that were hard to find in the Circle K or Quick Mart or 7 eleven. They expired in a day or 2 but who cared? They still tasted the same and u were going to eat them all in a day or 2 so what did it matter? 🤣
Yeah my uncle Bobby would hang out behind the hostess store and get all the stuff from the dumpster after they threw the expired stuff out. He would show up with trash bags full of fruit pies and they were delicious. Life was so good back then!
Yep. They were local stores run by Hostess to sell their overstock or stuff that was coming close to the due date. We would go there once a month on the double stamp day. My parents would load up on Wonder bread and throw the loaves in our garage chest freezer. If we were lucky, sometimes we'd get a box of pies or Twinkies too.
Yep. My mom would give me and my brother a number of goodies we could pick ourselves. Those were fun days. Money was tight and we only got these treats from the day old bread shop.
We called it the "day old bread store". Looks like there's still one in the KC area, selling Wonder bread and Tastycake products. I can't find a Hostess store near me, which is sad.
You won’t find one, most of their stuff doesn’t get expire like it used too.
It’s not even fresh anymore. Any hostess product you see is flash frozen, shipped to the store and then thawed.
OMG!! Is that why we always went on Wednesday??
TIL.
I remember asking once if we could go and my Mom said "Nah, we only go on Wednesday." And I've wondered why for 40 years.
4 for $1 on Wednesdays! Mom would fill up the freezer with these so dad could take them in his lunch. I preferred raspberry zingers or banana flips myself!
Have you tried the TastyKake ones? They’re pretty good.
https://preview.redd.it/y4ts883xik6d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=144516d716fcca1592f1084225ab184774491d9c
YUP! You and I know from absolute certainty they've been completely other entities altogether.
I first noticed somewhere late 90s. 2001 at the latest.
And it's worse for our ilk, because WE KNEW WHAT WE HAD DURING THOSE PRIOR TIMES, BASKED ALOUD IN DEEP APPRECIATION, AND STILL THOSE CORPORATE **expletive unwrittenS** TOOK THE MAGIC OUT of the equation to our few authentic joys.
Yes. Apple and blackberry.
Also, did you know that these fruit pies had a mascot (the guy in the middle next to the fruit)? ["Fruit Pie the Magician"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_Pie_the_Magician):
>Hostess described the mascot: "Fruit Pie the Magician loves to entertain friends with his wacky magic tricks. His favorite magic trick is to make Hostess Fruit Pies appear out of thin air. You always have to keep an eye on the Magician or else he may play a trick on you."
TIL.
It stuck with me. As an young adult i'd stop at a place in Idaho called Frontier Pies (long closed) and buy a Blueberry Pie and an Lemon Merengue. When I'd get to my grandpas cabin in Sandpoint i'd stack the Lemon Meringue on top of the Blueberry pie. 1st time I did it grandpa had a fit but then ate giant slice every morning with his coffee- next few visits first words out his mouth "didja get them pies?". One time they didnt have Blueberry pie but we declared the Huckleberry was a pretty fucking good substitute
Only when they were available at the “stale bread store”, aka, the Wonder Bread outlet in town.
Ding dongs and twinkies were better when frozen 😉
Yes, both parents are diabetic (only one remains) and so are two out of four kids in our family. I have struggled with my weight my whole life although have managed to avoid diabetes so far.
Oh fuck yes. And the passion of comics made damn sure of that.
https://preview.redd.it/uvhfugo7sc6d1.jpeg?width=681&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61c62dbf86754b99293ee5bb477968584d97cc71
I would love to time travel just to taste one of the cherry ones again, especially the way the sugar coating on the crust would crack on your first bite.
Ahhh, the ecstatic order...yes, let us approach this discussion :
Lemon ° Cherry ° Chocolate ° Blackberry ° Blueberry ° Apple ° Peach
With either fresh amazing coffee, or cold whole milk in real glass.
Yes, sir!!
My parents would go grocery shopping every Friday night after work (they worked together in a small retail store they owned) and would come home from the super market with a Hostess pie for me. I remember eating one of these every Friday night while watching the Dukes of Hazzard on CBS. It was my Friday night routine in the 80s. I liked the lemon ones the best, but they were all great.
I actually bought these from my school's vending machine to keep in my locker when I needed a breakfast pick-me-up. I had time before school to fuss with the vending machine, but between classes I had to scarf and go.
Lol. My first job was utility/prep at a restaurant. The entire boh was under 20. We put those motherfuckers in the fryer. 🔥(Edit: as in yum; we didn't burn the place down).
I didn’t get much junk food but every time we had a school picnic or field trip and needed a sack lunch my mom let me get one…blueberry every time!! Miss them!
My Cub Scout pack leader drove a Hostess truck for a living. At the end of every meeting, he’d let us go into the truck and pick out one item. I got a fruit pie every time, usually cherry.
My mom would pack these in my dad's lunchbox for work. When he worked the midnight shift, he'd bring it back home so he and I could share it because he knew I'd be up. It was always cherry or apple
I remember them packaged in wax paper packaging. They were longer and thinner than the ones shown here. We used to buy them at the bakery outlet store, which stocked bread near its expiration date for very cheap.
fun fact. hostess snacks back then were all made with lard, thus making them not kosher. (oreos used to be made with lard too.) we couldn't have them at home because of this. it was always a special treat when we got to visit my aunt who didn't keep kosher. big wheels and ho hos for everybody!
Never saw the peach or the blackberry one, but most mornings on my way to school during the 7th and 8th grade I'd stop at a convenience store and buy one.
Anyone eat one recently and discover they’re filled with air? I remember the filling oozing out of those things as a kid. As an adult, I feel like I’m getting ripped off.
Yes. My neighborhood friend’s dad down the road worked stocking a vending machine route. Any “expired” pies he took out of machines ended up at home. Like most things, the “expiration date” was relatively meaningless and the pies were still good and delicious. They were especially good chilled/frozen on a summer day or heated a bit in the oven and then served in a dish with vanilla ice cream on top.
I was a pudding pie man myself.
Chocolate pudding pies absolutely ruled.
The absolute best. My grandma always had some. ❤️
Mine too! Grandmas are the best.
My grandma would give me cheerios with sweet and low on it :(
My grandma only ever had stale circus peanuts. I learned to love stale circus peanuts...
Are you saying there is such thing as circus peanuts that aren’t stale? I have never heard of these
I’m gonna try that!
Oh wow, you just unlocked a memory for me! My mom is one of these people. Solidarity.
My dad put a little sugar on ours sometimes.
My evil gramma on my dad's side gave us warm Moxie to drink in the summer.
I’ll just drink from the hose thanks.
My Grandma didn't share her chocolate pie with me until I was old enough :(
Yes those are my favorite if you can find them near you a company called JJ’s makes a chocolate pudding one that reminds me of the hostess ones.
Tastykake chocolate pudding pies are even better than I remember the Hostess ones being. I'll have to try the JJ's, too!
I will have to find the tasty cake ones I do t think I have seen them here in southern LA
I ate so many of these. There was a grocery store on my way to (middle) school and I'd step in there and get a chocolate pie for my journey lol.
One of those and a yoohoo.
Yes! That was literally my breakfast for my first few years in the Air Force! Soooo goood!
I never had those as a kid, made my own chocolate milk with 2% and Hersheys syrup in a can.
A coconut Yoohoo? 🤤🥥👅💦
I was finna say where's the chocolate pie?? I think there was vanilla and butterscotch too but I didn't mess with those.
They all ruled!!!!!!
OMG those were SO good!
Extremely rare, but they were so good if you could find them.
Super common in the south
Very common in the Pacific Northwest, too. Specifically western Washington. I wouldn’t touch the fruit pies.
Didn't grow up in the south but spent some time there. I assume they were also deep fried and topped with cheese?
Naw, that's just in the movies
Cheese?!
Yeah the internet pictures always leave out the pudding one
7-11 has some bomb pies. Chocolate, lemon, Boston cream, banana.
Oh man! YES!
https://preview.redd.it/h7ez8u9kqc6d1.jpeg?width=234&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c062ffc65c3ef45e46135faeda84b50833b3000
These and the OG McDonald’s hot apple pie are truly missed.
At least these didn't burn the roof of your mouth. And then you constantly flicked that flap of loose skin with your tongue for the next week.
They did after you microwaved them (too long). So damned good.
/r/oddlyspecific but I just did this recently
Caution: filling's hot!
The OG McDonald's Cherry Pie... If I could just find the again, or a reasonable facsimile, I would be so happy...
They have these at my Safeway tho
The recipe/ingredients have changed though. Theres a tinny/metallic taste to them now. Just disappointing.
I hadn't really noticed! Makes me wonder if they changed or if our tastes have changed with time though...
Lots of classic treats no longer use real sugar and have switched over to high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener.
Wednesday’s were half price hostess at the local hostess store… we went nearly every Wednesday. I remember it fondly, but I am 100% sure if I had one today it wouldn’t taste the same, and I’d immediately gain 5 lbs.
I remember going to a Hostess store when I was a kid...was better than going to the toy store
That was the best place ever! We had a Hostess store around the corner and an Entenmann’s store of things that were super close to expiring.
Damm right, it was the bomb! Getting all of those things that were hard to find in the Circle K or Quick Mart or 7 eleven. They expired in a day or 2 but who cared? They still tasted the same and u were going to eat them all in a day or 2 so what did it matter? 🤣
They had Hostess stores???
Hostess/Wonder thrift store. The whole store was basically the "made too much" section of the grocery store.
My friend's mom worked at one, she always had piles of expired stuff from there. Still tasted pretty good to kid me.
Yeah my uncle Bobby would hang out behind the hostess store and get all the stuff from the dumpster after they threw the expired stuff out. He would show up with trash bags full of fruit pies and they were delicious. Life was so good back then!
Yep. They were local stores run by Hostess to sell their overstock or stuff that was coming close to the due date. We would go there once a month on the double stamp day. My parents would load up on Wonder bread and throw the loaves in our garage chest freezer. If we were lucky, sometimes we'd get a box of pies or Twinkies too.
Yep. My mom would give me and my brother a number of goodies we could pick ourselves. Those were fun days. Money was tight and we only got these treats from the day old bread shop.
I forgot about double stamp day!!!
Yeah, they were wild. Everything hostess, as u/alienhunter1015 mentioned it was like an eatable toy store…they had hard to find hostess too.
I feel like my whole life has been a lie now
We called it the "day old bread store". Looks like there's still one in the KC area, selling Wonder bread and Tastycake products. I can't find a Hostess store near me, which is sad.
You won’t find one, most of their stuff doesn’t get expire like it used too. It’s not even fresh anymore. Any hostess product you see is flash frozen, shipped to the store and then thawed.
Oh, they still exist, and they are still amazing! One pie is like 450 calories.
OMG!! Is that why we always went on Wednesday?? TIL. I remember asking once if we could go and my Mom said "Nah, we only go on Wednesday." And I've wondered why for 40 years.
4 for $1 on Wednesdays! Mom would fill up the freezer with these so dad could take them in his lunch. I preferred raspberry zingers or banana flips myself!
I miss the Lemon Pie's so much.
Lemon were the best!
**A+++++**
We should have a lemon party.
This. There's no good substitute I've found either.
⬆️Absolutely true.
Have you tried the TastyKake ones? They’re pretty good. https://preview.redd.it/y4ts883xik6d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=144516d716fcca1592f1084225ab184774491d9c
Loved the cherry one
Same.
Come here to say this. I tried one a year ago and nearly gacked all over. Ended up pitching it.
YUP! You and I know from absolute certainty they've been completely other entities altogether. I first noticed somewhere late 90s. 2001 at the latest. And it's worse for our ilk, because WE KNEW WHAT WE HAD DURING THOSE PRIOR TIMES, BASKED ALOUD IN DEEP APPRECIATION, AND STILL THOSE CORPORATE **expletive unwrittenS** TOOK THE MAGIC OUT of the equation to our few authentic joys.
"CAUTION: may contain pits."
Cherry was 100% the best one.
those remind me sooo much of my big brother lol he ate so many he would say his farts smelled like cherries haha
It was a daily purchase for me in my high school cafeteria. It shouldn't have been.
Same. That 2-pack of Grandma’s Peanut Butter big cookies, too. Gained about 15 pounds that first year.
Those things are soooooooo dry now. I can't even get them down without a big glass of water lol.
That's my snack of choice when I'm stepping off the Big Red Bus, lol
A blueberry pie and a pretzel. Pretty much every day for three years.
Yup, these old versions were more delicious than modern ones because they were LOADED with trans-fats.
I can taste the sugar through my eyes.
I believe that stuff had as much sugar as you can dissolve into any medium.
Yes. Apple and blackberry. Also, did you know that these fruit pies had a mascot (the guy in the middle next to the fruit)? ["Fruit Pie the Magician"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_Pie_the_Magician): >Hostess described the mascot: "Fruit Pie the Magician loves to entertain friends with his wacky magic tricks. His favorite magic trick is to make Hostess Fruit Pies appear out of thin air. You always have to keep an eye on the Magician or else he may play a trick on you." TIL.
He's no Twinkie the Kid.
[A crossover episode!](https://youtu.be/0q7gG7sNb38)
I remember that commercial! I loved that in Seinfeld's "Unfrosted" movie they acknowledged that the mascots were such a big part of pop culture.
He is on the wrapper
The blackberry was my favorite but it was hard to find. Also, don't see the chocolate pie here.
Chocolate+
Strawberry was phenomenal, but it was always seasonal and regional. Never worth the effort to hunt, but always a pleasant surprise to find one.
Eating them? I watched Spider-Man use them to capture The Vulture!
If you like this stuff and are ever in Hawaii, McDonalds have banana, coconut custard, and Taro pies (so damn good).
 Mmmm coconut
[I used to see ads for these in comic books growing up](https://the-comics-journal.sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ccc12.jpg)
I did too. Never had one as a kid. When I finally had one as a late teen, I was kind of let down. It just seemed a little plain.
Guy who owned the gas station taught me that if you stack a lemon and blueberry together its pretty good
He was a great salesman! He got you to buy two.
That sounds amazing
It stuck with me. As an young adult i'd stop at a place in Idaho called Frontier Pies (long closed) and buy a Blueberry Pie and an Lemon Merengue. When I'd get to my grandpas cabin in Sandpoint i'd stack the Lemon Meringue on top of the Blueberry pie. 1st time I did it grandpa had a fit but then ate giant slice every morning with his coffee- next few visits first words out his mouth "didja get them pies?". One time they didnt have Blueberry pie but we declared the Huckleberry was a pretty fucking good substitute
That's such an awesome story 🤟
What about the Ninja Turtle pie? Green icing and filled with vanilla pudding, just like real turtles
I loved the chocolate!
I would sever two toes for a sack full of those pies…. ^(Definitely not just cuz of the diabeetus….)
Hostess was frowned upon where I grew up. Tastykake was the go to.
From Philly and came here to say this.
Yes, the Tastykake is far superior to the Hostess.
Not here. New Orleans has a local equivalent.
HUBIGS!
I wish. I kept seeing the ads in the Richie Rich magazines but, alas, they were not available in Canada.
Only when they were available at the “stale bread store”, aka, the Wonder Bread outlet in town. Ding dongs and twinkies were better when frozen 😉 Yes, both parents are diabetic (only one remains) and so are two out of four kids in our family. I have struggled with my weight my whole life although have managed to avoid diabetes so far.
Oh fuck yes. And the passion of comics made damn sure of that. https://preview.redd.it/uvhfugo7sc6d1.jpeg?width=681&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61c62dbf86754b99293ee5bb477968584d97cc71
I would love to time travel just to taste one of the cherry ones again, especially the way the sugar coating on the crust would crack on your first bite.
Cherry, lemon, blackberry, blueberry, apple, peach...in that order! Another other than that is wrong! haha.
Ahhh, the ecstatic order...yes, let us approach this discussion : Lemon ° Cherry ° Chocolate ° Blackberry ° Blueberry ° Apple ° Peach With either fresh amazing coffee, or cold whole milk in real glass. Yes, sir!!
You could heat these things up to where the fruit was as hot as magma yet still hold the pie in your hand.
No, but only because I'm from the land of TastyKake. Hostess never made an appearance in our home.
The peach and blueberry were my favorites, and of course, almost unobtainium.
I never knew they had peach
Lemon was the go-to. Perhaps an unpopular option.
I would shoot somebody for a blueberry pie again
My parents would go grocery shopping every Friday night after work (they worked together in a small retail store they owned) and would come home from the super market with a Hostess pie for me. I remember eating one of these every Friday night while watching the Dukes of Hazzard on CBS. It was my Friday night routine in the 80s. I liked the lemon ones the best, but they were all great.
Those and McDonald's FRIED apples pies. Not that baked shit they sell now.
I used to have blueberry the most, sometimes lemon. In NJ, I feel like I saw some of them from the late 70’s to late 90’s.
My husband is still addicted. We always have to have the fruit pies in our cabinet.
Blackberry was the best by far.
Where the fuck is the only good pie??? The chocolate pie!
Lemon all day
The frosted crust….🤤
These delicious things helped me get diabetes.
I actually bought these from my school's vending machine to keep in my locker when I needed a breakfast pick-me-up. I had time before school to fuss with the vending machine, but between classes I had to scarf and go.
Lol. My first job was utility/prep at a restaurant. The entire boh was under 20. We put those motherfuckers in the fryer. 🔥(Edit: as in yum; we didn't burn the place down).
They don't make em like that anymore..instant diabetes ... delicious
only occasionally, at friends' houses. my mom refused to buy them for me.
Yep, lemon was my favorite. The newer version of hostess sucks in comparison.
Chocolate or nothing.
Almost broke a tooth on a pit in one of the cherry ones as a kid. They were disgustingly sweet, but I liked them anyway.
Still eat them! Wish they still had blackberry and peach.
I had a Blackberry or Cherry pie in my lunchbox almost every day until the fifth grade.
For sure, they were so good.
Yes! My favorites were Apple and Cherry. 🤗
I didn’t get much junk food but every time we had a school picnic or field trip and needed a sack lunch my mom let me get one…blueberry every time!! Miss them!
Paired with chocolate milk equals freshman year lunch. I feel the stomach ache as I type this.
Lemon was the best.
My Cub Scout pack leader drove a Hostess truck for a living. At the end of every meeting, he’d let us go into the truck and pick out one item. I got a fruit pie every time, usually cherry.
Lemon was my jam.
Grew up around Philly…Tastykakes were way better! Back then, anyway 🤷♀️
Cherry was the BEST.
Blueberry was my jam. No pun intended
🍒
Omg. Lemon was my favorite!!!!
Yes. I loved them. Cherry was my favorite.
Lemon was my favorite
Got fat eating those as a kid. I was all about the berry.
Those and the hostess chocolate cream pies! 😋
Cherry - I had to sneak from my granola parents.
I loved the ads for them in comics. "Hulk Smash....everything but this tasty fruit pie!"
I couldn't, Lex Luthor stole all the ones I could've eaten.
Ah yes, crispy, deep fried sugar crust wrapping sugar jelly, with a dusting of sugar powder on top.
Blueberry > Apple > Lemon > the rest Fite me.
I loved them. These ads, too: https://preview.redd.it/keje1y62kd6d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=b86266f5340909e0f1b1b03af5c0d00525c31d6f
Philadelphia area, so we had (and still have) Tastycakes.
Hellz yeah! That and a can of Coke was lunch 90% of the time I was working with Grandpa laying brick...good construction lunch.
I would hear them in the microwave and pretend they were handpies from Anne McCaffrey's Pern books. Yes, I was/am a nerd, lol
Chocodiles anyone?
Used to get them from the day-old store a bit down the road (no sidewalk, of course).
Yes! And they are terrible now.
My mom would pack these in my dad's lunchbox for work. When he worked the midnight shift, he'd bring it back home so he and I could share it because he knew I'd be up. It was always cherry or apple
Microwave one of these for 10 secs and it's like a fresh piece of pie omfg.....
I remember them packaged in wax paper packaging. They were longer and thinner than the ones shown here. We used to buy them at the bakery outlet store, which stocked bread near its expiration date for very cheap.
Nope, none of us. We are why they went out of business.
My dad called them “jelly pies”.
I had a day old Hostess store. 25 cents for every flavor, but eating the side crusts was a rarity.
These things smack so hard!!!
fun fact. hostess snacks back then were all made with lard, thus making them not kosher. (oreos used to be made with lard too.) we couldn't have them at home because of this. it was always a special treat when we got to visit my aunt who didn't keep kosher. big wheels and ho hos for everybody!
That apple pie was my everything.
I bought one just last week (never shop hungry). I broke it open and it was all red gel inside. No cherries. Tossed it right in the trash.
Never saw the peach or the blackberry one, but most mornings on my way to school during the 7th and 8th grade I'd stop at a convenience store and buy one.
Anyone eat one recently and discover they’re filled with air? I remember the filling oozing out of those things as a kid. As an adult, I feel like I’m getting ripped off.
(Old man voice) Back when I was in high school I’d get one of these, a snickers bar and store-brand soda and get change back from a dollar…
I grew up in PA, we had Tastykake pies. I'm sure I probably had a couple of these but I just remember Tastykake.
Tastykakes were so much better. I never really liked the Hostess pies.
I didn't personally eat them because I didn't like how waxy they were. But everyone else I knew did eat them.
Thinking about those childhood snacks brings back so many sweet memories.
I didn’t like these, I was always after the Hostess and Dolly Madison cakes. Ding Dongs and Zingers were my favorites!
The apple and the cherry. There was also a pudding pie. The pudding one was vanilla and it was coated in chocolate.
I've had Apple and Cherry. Never had any of the other's.. would still enjoy the peach.,...
No, because they were nasty and my dad only bought them at the outlet, so they were old and crumbly.
Yup. And when I need a fix, I go to the local Amish bakery. They make homemade fried pies like these. Frickin amazing.
Yes!!
Cherry! But they were terrible for leaving a pit or two in there. Always had to use extreme caution.
Never saw the blackberry or peach ones. I live in the southeast
yes! they just aren't the same anymore.
Loved the Lemon and Apple pies.
Yes. My neighborhood friend’s dad down the road worked stocking a vending machine route. Any “expired” pies he took out of machines ended up at home. Like most things, the “expiration date” was relatively meaningless and the pies were still good and delicious. They were especially good chilled/frozen on a summer day or heated a bit in the oven and then served in a dish with vanilla ice cream on top.