Skip to main content

Countdown to Christmas 12 - Love it or hate it?

What a surprise to me, who loves eating Christmas fruit cake, that in a survey about what people did with fruit cake that only 28% said they ate it! 
The other results in a survey conducted in "The New York Times"  reported that a research firm polled 1,000 people indicated that: 

  • 38% said they gave it away 
  • 28% said they ate it 
  • 13% used it as a doorstop 
  • 9% scattered it for birds 
  • and 8% said they couldn't remember.....  

A fairly negative result for the fruitcake in the popularity stakes. 
I must emphasise that this survey was completed in USA and some years ago in the late 1990's.  Even in the USA, the fruitcake's popularity differs in the Southern states where about 40% admitted to loving fruitcake. So like all statistics, how well do the figures reflect the reality  and how many factors  need to be considered ? However many surveys on fruitcake we look at - it appears that I was wrong in thinking everyone likes fruitcake   So like all statistics, some  general conclusions may be drawn from the results - some people love Christmas fruitcake and some people hate it!
Sadly it would appear that there are many people who hate fruitcake. which was named as one of the worst Christmas gifts to receive! You may have heard about the bad rap the Tonight Show gave the fruitcake. 
The worst Christmas gift is fruitcake,” cracked Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. “There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other, year after year.”We all hear the infamous fruitcake jokes year after year: “Why does fruitcake make the perfect gift? Because the U.S. Postal Service hasn’t found a way to damage it.” (from http://grubamericana.com )
Perhaps the fruitcake was saved from being named the worst fate one could suffer during the festive season , A majority of people said that they preferred to eat a whole fruitcake than spending a week with their in-laws! 
For those of us who love fruitcake, do not despair - there are many of us ! You only need to have a look at  the Facebook pages - Fruitcake Lovers Unite and Fruitcake Lovers United FLU  or check out the Fruit cake Lovers  Pinterest page full of delectable recipes. And if you are a really serious lover of fruitcake, perhaps the Society for the Preservation and Protection of the Fruitcake will offer a safe haven from the seemingly hoards of fruitcake haters! 

Tomorrow - some other uses for  Christmas fruitcake. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...
8 comments
Read more

Bilby Infatuation

  Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016  Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...
1 comment
Read more

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Post a Comment
Read more