Hostess Ho-Ho's distribution on East and West Coast

darkhorse9 · #1 04-16-2018, 07:01 AM

As I dig deeper into the vagaries of the Hostess issues from 1975-1979 I have a question that could answer a lot of forensics.

Did people on the West and East coast get Ho-Ho's?

I know from personal knowledge that they were NOT distributed in the South (Georgia, Florida, Alabama, the Carolinas) and they were available in the Midwest and Great Lakes. But what about the rest of you. Did Ho-Ho's get distributed during the mid-late 1970's where you lived?

OldSchoolBaseball · #2 04-16-2018, 07:56 AM

I lived in California at the time and we had Ho-Ho's, Ding Dong's and Cupcakes.

I had never heard of King Don's or Big Wheels until later in my collecting life.

Kurri17 · #3 04-16-2018, 09:18 AM

I will echo David, I lived in California in the early '70s and had Ding Dongs, Ho-Ho's and Cupcakes as well, and remember the change to King Don's when we moved to Arkansas.

Griffins · #4 04-16-2018, 12:05 PM

We also had Suzy Q's as well as Twinkies on the west coast.
Ho Ho's were by far the best, Suzy Q's were inedible. In '75 we'd buy tons of them at the Hostess clearance store in Beverly Hills (strange place for it, even then) and we could sell the Ho Ho's and Twinkies at school, but couldn't give the Suzy Q's away.

oaks1912 · #5 04-16-2018, 01:27 PM

In the San Francisco Bay Area we had Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Ho's, Cupcakes, Suzy Q's and Crumb cakes. I didn't do much with them in '75, but 76 and '77 I would regularly visit the 'Day Old' shop and fill a cart with the purchases. Some players were only available on certain products. We were not one of the 'test' areas for the individual card packages, but when I visited my grandmother in Laguna Hills (Southern Cal), I remember grabbing a bunch of the single packs at the local Ralph's market. I ate too much of that crap in the day, but we gave away a lot of the product too (I'm from a family that would not throw out edible food...I know, I know, their product wasn't really edible but still...). Agree with Anthony, the Ho Ho's were probably the least offensive of their products....

nolemmings · #6 04-16-2018, 02:44 PM

What, nobody had Hostess Sno Balls? Now there's a texture seldom found in nature, if at all. I'm guessing the cards were not sold with these delicacies.

darkhorse9 · #7 04-16-2018, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolemmings

What, nobody had Hostess Sno Balls? Now there's a texture seldom found in nature, if at all. I'm guessing the cards were not sold with these delicacies.

Actually, yes they were. They are Type 5 cards in my checklist in the other post.

darkhorse9 · #8 04-16-2018, 02:53 PM

The reason I ask this question is the 1977 Hostess individual cards that came with Ho-Ho's seems to be a lot scarcer than some other sizes. It would seem they would be more plentiful considering how popular they were.

Since I know for a fact they weren't available in the South, it sounds like they were on the West Coast. Haven't heard from anyone out East yet.

ullmandds · #9 04-16-2018, 03:08 PM

i grew up east coast and we had "yodels" not ho-ho's if I remember correctly.

chalupacollects · #10 04-16-2018, 05:00 PM

In New York we had Ho Ho's, Hostess cupcakes, Swiss Rolls, all Drake products, Twinkies etc. I definitely have some Hostess and Drakes box bottoms with cards on them...and Twinkies never expired

judsonhamlin · #11 04-16-2018, 06:32 PM

And lest we forget... Big Wheels. Great dessert cake, embarrassing mascot.

mrmopar · #12 04-16-2018, 07:06 PM

I remember Ho Ho's as a kid in the Pacific NW. Also remember Zingers, Suzy Q's, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cup Cakes and Snoballs. Were all of those Hostess offerings? I was a sugar addict, I know that. Favorite candy bar was the Marathon Bar!!!

As for the issues with cards, I only remember getting a few 78 and 79 and probably all from larger boxes. I started collecting cards in 1978, so missed a good portion of the Hostess issues when they were current.

Rrrlyons · #13 04-16-2018, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmopar

I remember Ho Ho's as a kid in the Pacific NW. Also remember Zingers, Suzy Q's, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cup Cakes and Snoballs. Were all of those Hostess offerings? I was a sugar addict, I know that. Favorite candy bar was the Marathon Bar!!!

As for the issues with cards, I only remember getting a few 78 and 79 and probably all from larger boxes. I started collecting cards in 1978, so missed a good portion of the Hostess issues when they were current.

I don't think Zingers was a hostess product their version was called tiger tails.
The best hostess product was their pies blackberry,lemon and the seasonal peach were my favorites. Unfortunately at the end they were horrible with very little filling but back in the 70's OH I can taste them now. Rick

bigfanNY · #14 04-17-2018, 02:56 PM

I live less than a mile from what used to be a hostess outlet. From 1975 thru 1977 during card season my Dad and I would go through the boxes and put together a complete set. It was easy for us. I prefer a Ding Dong to a Ho Ho. And my understanding was chocolate covered ho hos and ding dongs were not shipped south during the warm summer months. I still have a pile of panels and a couple full boxes and an ad or 2 that I keep around simply because of the great memories.

Rickyy · #15 04-18-2018, 05:55 PM

I also remember getting cards from Ho Ho's in N Calif as a kid. Btw...Zingers were mentioned above..was from Dolly Madison and pictured Peanuts characters to pitch the products back then.

Ricky Y

judsonhamlin · #16 04-18-2018, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

I live less than a mile from what used to be a hostess outlet. From 1975 thru 1977 during card season my Dad and I would go through the boxes and put together a complete set. It was easy for us. I prefer a Ding Dong to a Ho Ho. And my understanding was chocolate covered ho hos and ding dongs were not shipped south during the warm summer months. I still have a pile of panels and a couple full boxes and an ad or 2 that I keep around simply because of the great memories.

Would that be the East Brunswick location? That was a regular stop for me as a kid from 77-79. Even got a tour of the place with my school or Scouts. I think I can still smell the bread now

bigfanNY · #17 04-19-2018, 10:13 AM

I did visit the East Brunswick outlet. But the local one was in Woodbridge NJ. Just off the green st . traffic circle. About a half mile from the first traffic cloverleaf ever constructed for route 35 and route 1. East Brunswick was attached to a bakery but woodbridge was just a warehouse. So no fresh bread smell. Now the PSA east coast office is here in Woodbridge So I save a ton in shipping in fact I pay no shipping for auto's. Just drop em off and pick em up about a week later. Jersey Rocks...

stlcardsfan · #18 04-20-2018, 07:09 AM

In the St. Louis area we had all mentioned above and also Chocodiles - chocolate covered twinkies. Can't remember if cards came from them.

Ho Ho's were the best though!

gzman · #19 04-20-2018, 08:28 AM

Suzy Qs were my favorite...Chocodiles were hard to find...but, delicious! My mom was great with supporting my hobby!

JTysver · #20 04-27-2018, 11:27 AM

We only had fricken apples and grapefruit at my house. No cards with them either.

Kurri17 · #21 04-27-2018, 02:18 PM

Funny how this thread stays alive. But now that Chocodiles are on the table, well that's a whole new ballgame. Love me some Chocodiles.

toppcat · #22 04-27-2018, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurri17

Funny how this thread stays alive. But now that Chocodiles are on the table, well that's a whole new ballgame. Love me some Chocodiles.

I can't tell you what came with what or where it was sold but of all the junk food sweets (and I know it wasn't a Hostess product in the 70's, although they were and then weren't after again that) I will take a frozen Funny Bone over them all.

obcbobd · #23 05-02-2018, 12:51 PM

Just outside of Boston, never remember ho-ho's. Instead we had Yodels which I think were the same thing