My dad used to go to the Hostess day-old bread store and stock up on bread and goodies for us every week. Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs were usual treats. Eventually, a Dolly Madison store opened up on the other side of town and he started going there. Dolly Madison had its own versions- I think Zingers might have been the Ho-Ho style one, but I’m not sure.
Anybody out there remember the names of the Dolly Madison Ding Dongy and Ho Hoey snack cakes?
This was in central Indiana, BTW.
Zingers were like denser Twinkies with or without a top layer of frosting and/or covered in raspberry-coconut topping. They’re still available in central Indiana, too, and apparently the southside Dolly Madison thrift store is still around. It’s possible that the chocolate-iced chocolate Zingers might have been similar enough to a HoHo in taste that you recall those instead.
Googling, I think the Ding Dong clones were known (at least at one time) as KooKoos… DM treats did occasionally change names. They’re described as “cupcakes” but look to be puck-shaped chocolate cakes filled with cream and completely coated in frosting… there’s a drawing in an ad here. Definitely different than the Hostess-style cupcake that DM sold as… “Cupcakes.” Not sure about the cake roll/HoHos thing; DM did make a jelly cake roll, but the only reference to the coated chocolate/cream roll that I can find is that in some areas, IBC brands HoHos with the Dolly Madison brand. However, IBC bought Continental Baking (and therefore Hostess) only in 1995, and HoHo was always a Hostess brand. So if your cake roll memories predate 1995, that wouldn’t be the right answer for you.
FWIW in northeastern Drakes-speak Ding Dongs are Ring Dings and Ho-Hos are Yodels…
The cake memories are definitely Peanuts era- late 60s, early 70s. KooKoos and (chocolate) Zingers- I believe that’s I what I remember. Thanks!
Drake’s must have had a very strong foothold in their original regions-- they’re owned by IBC as well, so are probably equivalent to the Hostess-branded ones, but it’s telling that they’ve chosen to retain the Drake’s original brands. Around here, IBC happily jettisoned their own Dolly Madison brands, replacing equivalent products with the Hostess names, and slapping the Hostess name on Zingers and Coffee Cakes.
Didn’t Hostess get the rights to Zingers? I remember seeing Zingers being sold with Hostess on the label.
Like Hostess, Dolly Madison had a line of fruit pies. I remember liking them better than Hostess’ because they had more filling.
Yep. 
Apparently there are still a few regions where the Dolly Madison brand is retained, though I don’t know on what products.
ETA: It’s less that Hostess got the rights to Zingers, but Dolly Madison got the right to Hostess. Dolly Madison’s parent company IBC gobbled up Hostess’s parent Continental Baking.
Little Debbie has Swiss Cake Rolls which are their version of the Ho-Ho, I don’t recall seeing a Dolly Madison type.
I liked Dolly Madison Zingers when I was a kid. Last time I had one, though, it basically seemed like the Hostess cupcake in Twinkie shape. I ate my fair share of Hostess cupcakes as a kid, too, but Zingers were better. Maybe because Peanuts characters were on the label, and/or the company was named after a former first lady.
I see what you did there:)
Paula Poundstone did a short little bit about this. After being in Hollywood for a while she mentioned to her friends how she misses Ring Dings. When she describes them to LA people as being, “small circular devils food cakes with chocolate frosting and creme filling” they immediately tell her, “Oh, you mean Ding Dongs” to which she says with faux-indignation, “Oh! They’re **NOTHING **like Ding Dongs!!”