Everyone makes jokes about Aunt Betty and her fruitcake at Christmas, but what’s the real story behind that heavy little burden that arrives o­n our doorstep?

What about the oldest fruit cake?

This question falls into the realm of "urban legends." The 2002 edition of the Guinness World Book of Records does not include this category. We scoured the Web and several article databases and found plenty of stories touting fruitcake longevity claims. They are all anecdotal, not documented in a scholarly fashion. o­ne of the classic phrases regarding the longevity of this particular food was coined in 1983 by Russell Baker: "Fruitcake is forever."

"Thirty-four years ago, I inherited the family fruitcake. Fruitcake is the o­nly food durable enough to become a family heirloom. It had been in my grandmother's possession since 1880, and she passed it to a niece in 1933. Surprisingly, the niece, who had always seemed to detest me, left it to me in her will....I would have renounced my inheritance except for the sentiment of the thing, for the family fruitcake was the symbol of our family's roots. When my grandmother inherited it, it was already 86 years old, having been baked by her great-grandfather in 1794 as a Christmas gift for President George Washington. Washington, with his high-flown view of ethical standards for Government workers, sent it back with thanks, explaining that he thought it unseemly for Presidents to accept gifts weighing more than 80 pounds, even though they were o­nly eight inches in diameter...There is no doubt...about the fruitcake's great age. Sawing into it six Christmasses ago, I came across a fragment of a 1794 newspaper with an account of the lynching of a real-estate speculator in New York City." ---"Fruitcake is Forever," Russell Baker, New York Times, December 25, 1983, Section 6 (p. 10) [NOTE: your librarian can help you find the complete article]

"Take the story of the travelling fruitcake, years o­n the road like the Flying Dutchman or the Man Without A Country. o­ne family received it o­n some long ago Christmas from distant friends. o­n the following Christmas, they wrapped it in elaborate packaging and sent it back to the givers. o­n the next holiday, it returned. And so o­n and so o­n - the gift that keeps o­n giving." ---Let Them Eat Fruitcake, by Mary Lou Healy

Just in case you were interested...The oldest fruitcake company in the United States is the Collin Street Bakery, Corsicana Texas [1896]

A special thank you to FoodTimeLine for allowing us to use this article. This article and more Food History information is available at www.FoodTimeLine.org

© Lynne Olver 2002 24 November 2007