DailyFinance Says Farewell to Hostess

When I was a kid, few things spelled joy like a Hostess fruit pie or a Ho-Ho. Long before Reese's launched its "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's" campaign, my family knew that one's choice of Hostess snack was a definitive personality test. My decadent little sister, for example, liked to eat all the filling out of her Twinkies and then throw away the sponge cake, while my meticulous mother peeled the frosting off her cupcakes and saved it for last. I had a tendency to unroll my Ho-Hos (make of that what you will), while my father -- whose blood had more cholesterol than plasma -- cut his powdered donuts in half and smeared each side with butter before eating them.

It's been years since I ate a Hostess fruit pie or Ho-Ho, so the news that the company -- once again -- was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy didn't interest me all that much. But today, when I found out that Hostess was finally going under for the third time, I felt a pang. After all, old friends are still friends -- even if they are loaded with high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated beef fat.

Today, in honor of Hostess -- and the empty calories of our youth -- some of AOL's writers and I decided to revisit our favorite Hostess treats. We put our reminiscences in the gallery below.

What is your favorite Hostess treat? Let us know in the comments!

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Bruce Watson is a senior features writer for DailyFinance. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.