The Hostess with the mostest (iconic snacks, that is) – in pictures

Invented in Schiller Park, Illinois in 1930 by James Alexander Dewar, a baker for the Continental Baking Company, Twinkies were originally filled with banana cream. Dewar has said he came up with the name when he saw a billboard in St Louis for 'Twinkle Toe Shoes'. During World War II, bananas were rationed and the company was forced to switch to vanilla cream, resulting in what has become perhaps the most iconic American snack Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP Wonder Bread was originally produced by the Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis, Indiana and debuted on May 21, 1921. A novelty at the time, it is the alleged inspiration for the expression 'the best thing since sliced bread' Photograph: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images Hostess has claimed that its CupCakes, with their seven vanilla 'squiggles' swirling atop a layer of chocolate icing, are the best-selling snack cake in history Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy On its website, Hostess writes: "Call it a cupcake caper: mystery surrounds who 'invented' the original Hostess CupCake in 1919, although it was baking executive DR 'Doc' Rice, who, in 1950 added the signature seven squiggles and vanilla-crème filling" Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy Similar to Yodels, which are made by Drake's, Hos Hos are Hostess's not entirely appetizing-looking cream filled chocolate cakes that have a pinwheel design based on the Swiss Roll. A San Francisco bakery created the first Ho Hos in 1967 Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy Introduced in the 1930s, Hostess's Donettes mini donuts are modeled on confections made by Dutch bakers 'perhaps hundreds of years earlier', according to the Hostess website Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy The saying goes there's nothing more American than apple pie. To be more specific, there's probably nothing more American than these post-war, artificially flavoured, mass-produced Hostess Fruit Pies Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy In the 1980s Hostess marketed their chocolate pudding pies with the promise they contained 'Pudding Power', which is potentially more horrifying than whatever the actual ingredients are Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy While allegedly a lemon-centric treat, the Hostess Lemon Fruit pie has only about 6% lemon ingredients, according to livestrong.com Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy The iced Hostess Honey Bun contains 9 grams of saturated fat – 60% of the recommended daily intake, according to livestrong.com Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy Zingers are similar to Twinkies and come in devil's food, vanilla, and, in this case, raspberry flavors. Raspberry Zingers do not have icing on top but are instead covered in a mixture of shaved coconut and raspberry flavoured frosting of a colour that does not exist in nature Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/Alamy