National Fruitcake Day takes place every year on 27th December. National Fruitcake Day is, as the name suggests, a celebration of the fruit filled holiday cake. Although fruitcake was indeed very popular all the way back in the 1940s and the 1950s, I for one am not convinced that anyone actually eats this gooey, sugar-laden, weighty cake anymore nowadays!
Scientists have failed in their attempt to achieve deep penetration of fruitcake, and have therefore been unable to uncover its precise composition. The density of fruitcake has also proved to be a hindrance to scientific attempts to identify the age of fruitcakes by carbon dating, although there is rampant speculation that some fruitcakes must be, at bare minimum, several hundred years old.
The fact that National Fruitcake Day takes place just after Christmas is actually very appropriate. It is time to dispose of fruitcake once the holiday season has come to an end and it is a Christmas tradition for many to give fruitcake to their family, friends and neighbors. It is also expected that some of the recipients will then rewrap the fruitcake and in turn give it to someone else, which means that fruitcakes could well have been passed on for generations without anyone realizing it.
Despite the name, National Fruitcake Day is not a recognized official holiday, as this requires an Act of Congress; however, with it being said that there are a number of fruitcakes in Congress, it does seem strange that no one has ratified this as yet.
Lance Grooms