1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Histories, a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to the show, 2 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much for 3 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: tuning in. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, 4 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 1: and that's beginning to look a lot like our super producer, 5 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: Max Williams. 6 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 2: Maxy Holidays, Max Holidays. Do you I am the Chris 7 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 2: Kringle of this podcast? 8 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: Aren't I? 9 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 2: You kind of are? You're a bit of a Kringle. 10 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 2: Okay here, and I haven't gotting a little gray on 11 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 2: the beard. 12 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: So okay, watch out, man. You can see both our faces, 13 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: so folks, you may recognize the dulcet tones of none 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,119 Speaker 1: other than my brother in arms, Noel Copenhagen Brown a man. 15 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 2: I just came from the Land of Christmas, where they 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 2: invented Christmas, right, the Danish invented Christmas. 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: It's like legos and Christmas. 18 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 2: They love it there. It's so cool. I went to 19 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 2: the oldest gay bar in the world, which, if you 20 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 2: can imagine, was absolutely blown out with Christmas stuff. It's 21 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 2: this tiny little corner spot and I'm forgetting the name now, 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 2: but just look up oldest gay bar in the world 23 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 2: and incredible Christmas decorations went to this place called Tivoli Gardens, 24 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,680 Speaker 2: which is like this old timy amusement park, absurd Christmas markets. 25 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 2: So I'm very in the Christmas spirit, whether I want 26 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 2: to be or not. 27 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Christmas, Oh thank you. Yeah. They they do 28 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: call me, they do call me Ben Bullen. In this 29 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: neck of the Global Woods, we are ourselves fans of Christmas, 30 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: and if you are not from the United States, there's 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: something that we need to get out of the way 32 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: super quickly. At the top. People here like Christmas in 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: a way that is not necessarily always religious. It's just 34 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: a fun time. 35 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 2: I would say I fall into that for sure, And 36 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 2: I would say it's hard to say because I didn't 37 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 2: ask everybody in particular, but in Europe it certainly there's 38 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 2: a religious component, but it also just is a vibe. Man, 39 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 2: It's a lot of fun. It's a celebration of culture 40 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 2: because even without the religious component, it's still got such 41 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 2: a tradition and like a legacy of all of the 42 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 2: various you know, songs and decorations on the gift and 43 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 2: little Christmas markets, not to mention confections. 44 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: Ah yes, yeah, here we go, folks. Another thing about 45 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: the United States is that you've heard of fruitcake, and 46 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: if you are like most Americans, you probably think of 47 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: it more as an old joke in holiday pop culture 48 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: instead of a actual food. 49 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 2: Kind of the thing you think of as being a 50 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 2: crappy gift or something you give to someone, you regift 51 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 2: because someone's giving you this lump of you know, weird hard. 52 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: Attack and just kind of pass it on. But it's 53 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: not really a pay it forward kind of thing, isn't 54 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: It's a gag gift, yeah, a little bit. Yeah, And 55 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: I mean fruitcake sounds sort of bizarre. If you were 56 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: to explain it to an alien that landed on Earth 57 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: and asked you what a fruitcake was, you would say, well, 58 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: it's a dense candied fruit nuts whatever carbs we have 59 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: lying round, and you know, a lot of booze, more 60 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: than a little booze. 61 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's what Paul Hollywood might call a bit claggy, 62 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,119 Speaker 2: and what Prue might say is a bit too boozy, 63 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 2: and Prue likes r booze. 64 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: And it's almost you know, I was thinking about this, guys. 65 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: It's almost like something a stoner would dream up when 66 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: they're up late at night. They have the munchies and 67 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: they only have weird stuff in the pantry. 68 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 2: Just toss it in the mixer. Although if Stoner probably 69 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 2: wouldn't go to the trouble of baking a thing. But 70 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 2: I said, I like where your head's that been. You're 71 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 2: definitely on the right track. It is a bit of 72 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,559 Speaker 2: a kitchen sink type confection. Oh yeah, for sure. 73 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: You know, kind of like how I think the three 74 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: of us have been there at some point in our lives. 75 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: It's kind of like improvising soup, you know what I mean. 76 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: You got to make a soup and you're like, ah, 77 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: what do we have here? What are they? Oh? How 78 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: old are these radishes? 79 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 2: Well, that's the best way place to use a questionable 80 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 2: radish man is a soup because it's disguised by all 81 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 2: the broth. 82 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: There we go and Noel. As we'll see in today's 83 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: holiday episode, fruitcake was not always as maligned as it 84 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: is in the modern day. Instead, once upon a time, 85 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: for quite some time, it was enormously popular. It probably 86 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: saved a few lives, and people who like fruitcake, they 87 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: really like it. The fan base is like K pop 88 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: law ferocious for sure. So why don't we set our 89 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: minds back to the days of the ancient Romans, who 90 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: you know, came up with a lot of things, and 91 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: it turns out they also more or less came up 92 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,559 Speaker 1: with what we might think of as as something along 93 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: the lines. 94 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 2: Of a modern fruitcake. Although is there early a modern fruitcake? 95 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 2: Isn't the idea of it that it is technically kind 96 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 2: of an antiquated thing? 97 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, So here we go, we're traveling back. 98 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 2: Yes, so here we are. 99 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: Here we are we made it so, as you were saying, Noel, 100 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 1: fruitcake is a concept is so old and so ubiquitous 101 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: that it's it's almost like the invention of the wheel 102 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: or the taming of fire. It's impossible to figure out 103 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: a specific moment where an individual came up with the idea. 104 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: But like you said, the earliest thing that we could 105 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: properly call fruitcake esque goes back to ancient Rome. They 106 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,479 Speaker 1: made something you could call it a confection. It was 107 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: called satura st you are a And if you heard 108 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: the pause right before we said confection, that's because this 109 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: thing is way less like a cake and way more 110 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: like an energy bar. 111 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 2: I'm I do that thing? I do I ask about 112 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 2: the etymology of a word with the absolute idea satura, 113 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 2: I look at and immediately think saturated, which is the 114 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 2: vibe of a freaking chunk of fruitcake. It is so 115 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 2: densely packed with all this stuff you could call it 116 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 2: somewhat saturated with ghak. Those things in this version include barley, 117 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 2: pine nuts, which I love a pine nut, raisins particular, 118 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 2: leave it, pomegranate seeds delightful, barley mash, honeyed wine, there's 119 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 2: the booze, and any other kind of like you said, 120 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 2: ben bits and bobs of leftover kitchen ring you might 121 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 2: have line around. 122 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: Exactly, Yeah, depending on the ingredients that we're available. And 123 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: you know, you've got a cool spidy sense here. Know 124 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: about the etymology because satura is obviously Latin and it 125 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: means full or sated. So I think you got it well. 126 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 2: And that's funny because now it means we need to 127 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 2: think a little bit about the etymology of saturated because 128 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 2: in that word, I feel the presence of the word satiated, 129 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 2: because you are satiated by something that is calorically dense 130 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 2: or saturated, right. 131 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. I think it's also related to it also, ultimately, 132 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: leads to the word satire. Okay, okay, anyway, so this 133 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: is a weird thing to help you be stranger parties. 134 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: This stuff, as we said, it wasn't particularly regarded as 135 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: a delicacy, but it was dense, it took a long 136 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: time to go bad, and it can feed soldiers on the. 137 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 2: Move, more of a staple. Like I believe I have 138 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 2: threw out the word hard tax earlier, which is a 139 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 2: you know, historical, very very dense and robust in terms 140 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 2: of its you know, ability to kind of last for 141 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 2: a long time without getting gross, that could be stored 142 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 2: in cool, dry places aboard ships for example, sample and 143 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 2: wasn't exactly fun to eat, but it's what might also 144 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 2: even led to modern versions of it like neutral loaf. 145 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: Talk a little bit about neutral loaf, then oh yeah, 146 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: neutral loaf. Nol So neutral loaf is a pretty controversial 147 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: thing that is here in the States. It often shows 148 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: up in the news because it was being fed to 149 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: prisoners and it's just gross. 150 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 2: It is a similarly hardly packed, dense thing that the 151 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 2: idea is how many calories can we pack in the 152 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 2: smallest little package, right. 153 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: And in the case of neutral loaf, how can we 154 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: do that while spending as little money as possible. 155 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 2: Exactly, right, exactly. 156 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: You know, uh, before we continue, you know one other 157 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: name for neutral loaf nol is. So it's meal loaf, 158 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: which just grosses me out. Meal loaf, meal loaf. Like, 159 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: how can we just absolutely break the idea nutrition down 160 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: to the studs and take any semblance of joy or 161 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,559 Speaker 1: pleasure out of it? Yeah, exactly, and take two of 162 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: the weirdest words in the English language and put them together. 163 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: I don't like the word loaf. I don't care for 164 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: the word meal. How do you feel about maltomeal multomeal? 165 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: What is that? 166 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 2: Multomeal is sort of like a cream of wheat, another 167 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 2: one of these wartime staple foods. I believe it's a 168 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 2: brand name, but it is. Yeah, malt o'meal. It's a 169 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 2: hot cereal, more or less grown up baby food. 170 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, yeah, I'm not gonna be the biggest enthusiast 171 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: of maltomeal. Have you tried it? 172 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 2: I have, and actually I remember growing up quite enjoying it. 173 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 2: But it's one of those things too, where it's all 174 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 2: about what you put in it. You can sweeten it 175 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 2: with honey, kind of bananas y. 176 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: Pablum is another word which you know, it is a 177 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: very goofy you know mouthfeel, for sure, but it's still 178 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: around and popular in certain certain parts of the country. 179 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: And we are well aware, our folks, fellow etymology nerds, 180 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: that the most unpopular word in the English language per 181 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,559 Speaker 1: several different surveys is moist. 182 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 2: I don't know if that was that an ooh of 183 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 2: disgust or of titillationdbd, dbd. 184 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: We'll fix it posts, thank you, Max. So we know 185 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: that this stuff satura is it's like a proto fruit cake. 186 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: It's not really a cake, and it might not have 187 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: had a ton of actual fruit. But the origins of 188 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: what we call the modern fruit cake still date back 189 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: pretty far the Middle Ages, and it's because dried fruits 190 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: become more readily available before then. At this point, you know, 191 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: you got fruit when it was in season, or if 192 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: you were rich, or if you happen to live around 193 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: an area where that fruit grew. 194 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,160 Speaker 2: Drying and candying fruit could be argued it was a 195 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 2: form of technology, you know, because I mean it's sort 196 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 2: of a way of preserving things that normally would go 197 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 2: bad prolonging the harvest and making sure that you could 198 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 2: store these things up for the you know, the non 199 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 2: growing seasons exactly. 200 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, And so as people had more access to dried fruit, 201 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: folks across the European continent naturally started experimenting with new 202 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: ways to use this ingredient in cooking and what they 203 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: called fruited breads. 204 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 2: Not a cookie bed, it's not a cookie cook it's 205 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 2: fruited bread. It's fruited bread, fruited cake. Depending but remember 206 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 2: that that slogan from Fig Newton. It's not a cookie, 207 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 2: it's fruited cake. 208 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,079 Speaker 1: It's fruity cake. That must be where this comes from, Nola. 209 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: I think you're on fire today, man, you're nailed it. 210 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: We also go to the Smithsonian, which confirms something you. 211 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: Max and I were talking about a little bit off air, 212 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: these regional very You see, not all fruitcakes are created equal. 213 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: No, And I think I maybe mentioned off Mike that 214 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 2: I dig this, this Italian version, and a lot of 215 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 2: it has. I like the density of it. I just 216 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 2: don't like the chunky, gummy teeth, sticky dried fruit bits. 217 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,199 Speaker 2: And I really don't love a raisin, although a really 218 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 2: good oatmeal raisin cookie allows me to overlook the one 219 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 2: of the main ingredients. But we're talking about something called 220 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 2: panofte over there in Italy, which literally translates to strong bread. 221 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 2: This dates back to the thirteenth century in Siena. It 222 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 2: was influenced by something from Germany called stolen which is 223 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 2: a tapered loaf that's coated with melted butter and powdered 224 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 2: sugar that is a bit more bread like inconsistency and 225 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 2: is super popular in Dresden and has been since the 226 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 2: fourteen hundreds and actually has its own festival. There are 227 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 2: versions of it as well, comes from the Caribbean islands, 228 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 2: as well as Britain's famous plumb pus, which is more 229 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 2: of a wetted cake, you know, a wet fruit a 230 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,319 Speaker 2: moist fruit cake that's soaked in rum for a very 231 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 2: long time. I believe it's not cooked out, so you 232 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,079 Speaker 2: would you could get intoxicated by eating enough plum. 233 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: Pudding, you know what. I bet you're right. I haven't 234 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: personally tried this, but it's not out of the realm 235 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,559 Speaker 1: of possibility that there are some people in European Christmas 236 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: markets right now who accidentally got cake drunk. The cake 237 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: drunk here, all right, but we know that some of 238 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: these variations durally the point they came about because of 239 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: personal preference, right like, oh, I want plums my thing. 240 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 1: Most of these variations, however, were probably just the result 241 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: of available ingredients. Right at this point in history. You 242 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: can't just pop over to Amazon or some international supermarket 243 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: and pick up a pound of pecans if they happen 244 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: to be on sale in your town, tally ho. But 245 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: if not, you just got to find something the closest 246 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:06,319 Speaker 1: thing to pecans, you can imagine, that's right. 247 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 2: I think I stopped myself short. What I was saying 248 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 2: is I really I dig the pana forte because it's 249 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 2: a little less dense with these chunky fruits and oftentimes 250 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 2: a little more of the marzipan kind of hazel nutty, 251 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 2: almondy kind of flavor. And I really dig a dense 252 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 2: piece of cake that has that vibe. 253 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: I love it when we do food episodes. 254 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 2: Oh ma, it's so fun, and it really is does 255 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 2: get me an holiday spirit, because I hope it's really 256 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 2: clear we're not nagging anybody's cake tastes, like this is 257 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 2: your thing. Go with God, you know, to the to 258 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 2: the fruitcake shopping. But it's interesting because there are certainly 259 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 2: extreme versions of this stuff, and then slightly more, you know, 260 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 2: low key versions of fruitcake that maybe would appeal to 261 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 2: more of a general audience. 262 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: Right exactly. General audience is going to be a big 263 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: part of our story here, because we're trying to solve 264 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: some mysteries. Right. One of the things we have to 265 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: mention before we move on is that in some instances, 266 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: fruitcake recipes came about because of Catholicism. Catholic regulations that 267 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: band butter also affected how you could make a fruitcake. 268 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 2: Put a put a dollar in the butter box, right exactly, yeah, pound, 269 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 2: what would you call it? Aleira? 270 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, there we go. It wasn't until fourteen ninety, in fact, 271 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: that a guy who's been on the show earlier, Pope 272 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: Innocent eight, finally allowed the good Catholics of Catholicism, I 273 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: guess you large, But yeah, Catholics at large, which feels 274 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,920 Speaker 1: like an album name for someone bad. 275 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what else does modern fruitcake? I have 276 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 2: to say it sounds a bit like an album would 277 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 2: would you say that? At the time, Ben, this might 278 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 2: have been by some considered it a radical. 279 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: Change, dude, Absolutely, like the Pope now throwing raves and stuff. 280 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: There's some people that maybe aren't digging that pope's vibe. 281 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 2: He's a little too much of a modern pope. 282 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's what you get. You got a Chicago pope. Now, 283 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: so he's co signing Raeves and what was it, Slovakia. 284 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 2: I think that's correct, Ben. He also he's done a 285 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 2: couple of other kind of more chill pope things. But Ben, 286 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 2: if I'm not mistaken, the initial area this was permitted 287 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 2: in was Saxony, which is known for its butter. They 288 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 2: are absolute butter masters over there in Saxony. If you 289 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 2: are in France, a lot of times the best quality 290 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 2: butter you'll get used in crapes and what have you, 291 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 2: or anything is gonna come from Saxony. And if you've 292 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 2: ever had it, Ben, I'm sure you have. It tastes 293 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 2: almost more like a fine blue cheese than it does 294 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,600 Speaker 2: like a regular old butter. It really hits different. 295 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, agreed, man, It's silken in some ways. 296 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 2: It has just flavor. It's not just salt and cream. 297 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 2: It has like, you know, really complex flavors, much more 298 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 2: like what you might find in a cheese exactly. 299 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. So this letter that the the Pope sends off 300 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 1: to the Saxons is known as the butter letter or 301 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: the butter brief? 302 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 2: Who put that in the butder? I'm sorry, there's this 303 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,199 Speaker 2: Australian dude. He does these like I'm the guy who 304 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 2: makes all those popular catchphrases. Who put that in the butter? 305 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: It does? 306 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 2: Look him? Look a catchphrase guy. He's so funny he'll 307 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 2: do He'll rattle off like nine of them, and they're 308 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 2: all ridiculous. And I always remember who put that in 309 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 2: the butter? Who put that in the butter? That's straight 310 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 2: seahorse teeth, that's an ai dog in the butter. 311 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:35,199 Speaker 1: So starting the sixteenth century, we see another revolution in 312 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: food technology. Sugar from these up and coming American colonies 313 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: changes the game because they figure out, you know, through 314 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: the right process, a high concentration of sugar can preserve fruit. 315 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: And this created a glut of candied fruit. Now, yeah, 316 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: now they're more accessible, they're more affordable, and hopefully, like. 317 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 2: Even if you just low cook some strawberries down, you 318 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 2: sprinkle sugar on it, all of a sudden it becomes 319 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,119 Speaker 2: this like syrupy, gooey confection that then I believe you'd 320 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 2: like maybe spread that onto a sheet or something and 321 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 2: cook it at a low time. Sure you would start 322 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 2: to be able to like almost make like strawberry brittle. 323 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: It's also a very popular topping for different kinds of 324 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: I'll say it actual cakes. All right, Okay, no, nobody 325 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: get bad at us. 326 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 2: This is as far as we're going to throw shade 327 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 2: in this episode. Is what just happened just now. 328 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: So that's it. That's the line. We've established the boundary. 329 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:34,160 Speaker 1: No further we're stopping at. We're not crossing the fruitcake 330 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: dis rubicon. But we will tell you about how they 331 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,120 Speaker 1: became unpopular. Part of it is because they have been 332 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: around for so long. They are so incredibly resilient. We 333 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,919 Speaker 1: did an episode a while back on the Antarctic fruitcake 334 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: that's more than a century old. Remember that one. 335 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 2: Absolutely. That was an episode where we found evidence, or 336 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 2: scientists did we didn't of a fruitcake that had lasted 337 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 2: a century and was edible more or less. I believe 338 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 2: there was some talk to like I wouldn't need it. 339 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 2: Maybe it's sort of like finding those really really old 340 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 2: bottles of wine, this idea that you could probably drink 341 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 2: it. It wouldn't kill you. Maybe maybe the alcohol content has 342 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 2: diminished over time. But I do remember somebody in talking 343 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 2: about the study said, well, I wouldn't need it, but 344 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 2: you could. You couldn't, right, Yeah, All we needed to 345 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 2: do is last for a year's time so we can 346 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:27,400 Speaker 2: regift it next Christmas. 347 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: Exactly if you are the kind of person to practice 348 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: regifted the fruitcake is perfect. You get one one Christmas, 349 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: you just tuck it away in the back of the 350 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 1: pantry and then boomvoila. You send it back the next year, 351 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: and over time this becomes kind of a wholesome prank. 352 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: It becomes a tradition all its own, because, like a 353 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,640 Speaker 1: white elephant thing, just so because they have often they 354 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: have alcohol content, they are shelf stable for a really 355 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: long time without going bad. Kind of like an MRI. 356 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 2: Right, but oh that's a really good analog, Ben, I 357 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 2: wasn't thinking about the hard tack MREs. These are things 358 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 2: that are meant to last in the field of battle 359 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 2: or like you know, out to sea or whatever it 360 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 2: might be, where you're not going to be able to 361 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 2: re up on your supplies or you need to be 362 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 2: able to sort of like you know, squirrel them away. 363 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. Now this this leads us to one of our 364 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: big mysteries. 365 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 2: There's a Christmas bit coming in. 366 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, How how did the fruitcake become so strongly 367 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: associated with Christmas? 368 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 2: You know, it's funny when you think about it. On 369 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,400 Speaker 2: its face, there isn't anything particularly Christmasy about it, other 370 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 2: than maybe that a lot of the fruits, if you 371 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 2: do like a bisected cut are, they tend to be 372 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,199 Speaker 2: red and green And but that could just be a 373 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 2: modern thing. Where what are even the green bits that 374 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 2: are in their bema? Ain't no fruit that's that color green? 375 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 2: I don't know, like a gummy bear. Dude, what even 376 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 2: are those? 377 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,399 Speaker 1: And they are gummy, like you said, they stick to 378 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: your teeth. There's got to be a die job going on. 379 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 2: That must be it. 380 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: That must be it. No one sure how fruitcake became 381 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: so intimately tied with Christmas, but we know for a 382 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: while they were a go to item for pretty much 383 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: any special event, a wedding, holidays in general. This is 384 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: the eighteenth and nineteenth century. And the reason people loved 385 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: having these or giving them to others is because they 386 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:30,119 Speaker 1: were a flex They had expensive substances. Fruits lickol was 387 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: it was celebrating, but it was also showing off, like 388 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: ordering caviart a fancy restaurant. 389 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:38,959 Speaker 2: I'm just gonna drop this real quickly because it's been 390 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 2: on my mind. The term fruitcake, used as like an 391 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,440 Speaker 2: insult is also fun. This idea of someone being nuttier 392 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 2: than a fruitcake reminds me of a thing you drop sometimes, 393 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 2: something being nuts and bananas, the nuts. Where does that 394 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 2: even come from? This idea of someone being mentally unwell 395 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 2: being nuts? What about a nut makes somebody make that cannet? 396 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 2: I've always wondered, But yeah, a fruitcake is often thrown around. 397 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 2: According to I'm just gonna do it and be honest 398 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 2: about it the Google AI overview, it is an insult 399 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 2: used to call someone crazy, eccentric, or insane. The term 400 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 2: is a derogatory slang term for a person and can 401 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 2: be offensive when used to mock or demean someone's mental 402 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 2: state or unusual behavior. Offensiveness is one of the headlines here. 403 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 2: The term can be considered offensive, and it's used as 404 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,239 Speaker 2: comparable to calling someone quote off their rocker. Good on 405 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 2: you out of their AI, so we out of their God. 406 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: We know that we can tackle part of the mysterious 407 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: Christmas connection with a little bit of speculation. Okay, So, 408 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: just as regional variations of food pop up naturally over time, 409 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: suitable holiday traditions even today, Christmas celebrations in one part 410 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 1: of the world, as you saw recently, can vary widely 411 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,879 Speaker 1: from the activities you're used to back home. I have 412 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: Christmas envy for our British friends. You know, they get 413 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: put on the little crowns. 414 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 3: Oh, the little cracker thing eckers awes uh huh. I 415 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 3: didn't know what that was until I dated briefly a 416 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 3: a woman whose father was or stepfather was Scottish, and 417 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 3: I went to a holiday meal over there and they 418 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 3: did that, and I've never seen him before, had never heard 419 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 3: of it even, And it's one of those what is 420 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 3: it better mine hoff things where the moment something that 421 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 3: you see it all throughout popular culture. But yeah, it's 422 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 3: like a little gift that everyone of the table gets 423 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,800 Speaker 3: and you open it up. It's like a cylinder and 424 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 3: then there are these little party poppers inside and wear 425 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 3: these crowns. 426 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: There's a little maybe there's a little gift in the 427 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: middle of the Christmas cracker, but it's all about the 428 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: pop you know about the poduct. Yeah, so okay, we 429 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: know that somewhere along the line, people who already were 430 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: well acquainted with fruitcakes as a special occasion confection, they 431 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,119 Speaker 1: just start they decided to start celebrating Christmas, which is, 432 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: when you think about it, the biggest. 433 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 2: Birthday in history. And also when I gave you my heart, 434 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 2: you give it away? 435 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: Yeah? 436 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 2: Monster? 437 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,439 Speaker 1: Oh yeah? Did you see that? Me? Recently, now that 438 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: the season of Mariah Carey has returned, I saw something 439 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:16,119 Speaker 1: where people were pointing out. In her most famous song, 440 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: Mariah Carey says, I don't want a lot for Christmas, 441 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: and then later she says, all I want for Christmas 442 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 1: is you, which. 443 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 2: Is all of you, entirely, every cell within your being, 444 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,880 Speaker 2: your soul, mind, body, and soul. That's what Mariah wants, 445 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:33,200 Speaker 2: and she will accept nothing less. 446 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,800 Speaker 1: Right and also inherently she's implying that she doesn't think. 447 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,680 Speaker 2: Much to you. That did not occur to me. 448 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: Ben. 449 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 2: It's a little bit of a shade thrower there that Mariah. 450 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't think of it either, but it's 451 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: gonna haunt me now to realize that Mariah Carey may 452 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: have just low key dissed millions of people every single year. 453 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 2: That one's not my favorite. I could take her leave 454 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 2: that one during the holidays, mainly because she has the 455 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,679 Speaker 2: hea and it kind of gets me in the in 456 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 2: the brain place like almost like a like like I'm 457 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 2: being crippled by a psychic ray or something like that. It 458 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:11,239 Speaker 2: does a little bit, but I just will never not 459 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 2: enjoy Last Christmas by whim. 460 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: Last Christmas is great. 461 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 2: It's a great tune. It's just actually wait till Christmas. No, 462 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 2: it's a very chill song and some great sweaters. In 463 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,120 Speaker 2: that music video, they're all at some sort of ski 464 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:25,360 Speaker 2: lodge just having a jolly old time. 465 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: But it's also a sad song. Yeah, this is like 466 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: a sad Christmas song. Save it for someone special. Also 467 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,719 Speaker 1: is Long December by counting Cruise? Does that count as 468 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:35,719 Speaker 1: a Christmas song? Not Real? 469 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 2: Diehard counts as a Christmas movie? 470 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: It does? 471 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 2: Be okay, okay, yeah, all right, there's a reason to 472 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 2: believe another liquor. 473 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: Let's play these radio games, all right. 474 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 2: There is a movie called Reindeer Games Ben with I 475 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 2: want to say, oh gosh, it was around the time 476 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 2: of The Last Boy Scout, so I can maybe conflating 477 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 2: it with that, but I want to say that Awayan's 478 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 2: is in Reindeer Games. Okay, let's see. Well, we gotta look, 479 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 2: and it's definitely one of those Christmas set like action adventure, 480 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 2: spy thrillers, Reindeer Games, the movie Oh no, no, no, 481 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 2: it's two thousand, I'm sorry. I am thinking of The 482 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 2: Last Boy Scout and it stars Charlie's then and ben 483 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,880 Speaker 2: a Fleck Fleck Frank Wow. 484 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, pre Batman ben So four time. Just like ben Affleck, 485 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: fruitcakes were immensely popular, but mainly for people who could 486 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: afford them. It reminds me of our earlier episode no 487 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: on renting Pineapples, which is still weird flex but okay, 488 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: weird flex, but okay, it's still so strange. As we know, 489 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: the fruitcakes time and the culinary spotlight did not last forever. 490 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,360 Speaker 1: And this is where we get to our second mystery. 491 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:54,120 Speaker 1: What happens? What turned this once high class, opulent, sweety 492 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 1: pants bread into a cultural laughing stock. I think it's okay, 493 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 1: I got it. I think it's due. So I used 494 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: to absolutely loathe Ranch and for the most part, I 495 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,439 Speaker 1: still immensely I've going somewhere. For the most part, I 496 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,439 Speaker 1: still immensely dislike it, but. 497 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 2: I did an episode I believe of stuff of genius 498 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,400 Speaker 2: about the history of Ranch. Oh that's right, that's a concept. 499 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:19,879 Speaker 2: And I just wanted to add in an inter up. 500 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:21,679 Speaker 2: I was when I was just in Europe. I was 501 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,880 Speaker 2: in a grocery store and I saw these little packets 502 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 2: on the shelf that said American Ranch. I love how 503 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 2: american this idea of Ranch is? But please continue? 504 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: Oh no, this is perfect. And I love the setup 505 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: there old because what I realized is I had never 506 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: had homemade ranch. I only had uh the dust. I'd 507 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: only had the dust, or I'd been forced to engage 508 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: with Ranch through like a mass produced condiments. 509 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 2: Engage with Ranch. 510 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 1: I know, right, like it's a battle. 511 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 2: Are there rules of engagement with Ranch? 512 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,440 Speaker 1: Then? No, Ranch is an animal. Ranch is a take 513 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: it he Ranch's kissinger on a chicken wing. Cool, that's 514 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: not going to sound weird out of contact. Chef's kissinger, 515 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: chef's kissinger perfect? Oh nothing but net So this is 516 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 1: a similar problem that likely contributed to the downfall of 517 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: fruitcake popularity. At the height of their fame, fruitcakes were 518 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: made at home. If you're a baker, you have your 519 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: own take on the recipe. You pour a lot of 520 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:29,360 Speaker 1: time and booze into crafting each one, and the issue 521 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: is that everybody wants to keep up with the Joneses, 522 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,720 Speaker 1: but not everyone can afford to buy the individual ingredients, 523 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:37,439 Speaker 1: and a lot of people don't have the time to 524 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: make this. 525 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 2: That's interesting, man, I thought it was going to go 526 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 2: in a different direction, where like we've talked about this 527 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 2: idea of like the homemade gift being maligned in some ways, 528 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 2: and at the time, I'm certain with the industrial revolution 529 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:54,120 Speaker 2: and people wanting to be considered like up on the times, 530 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,959 Speaker 2: you know, like I want to I'm part of the future, 531 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 2: Sign me up, the idea of homemade things might have 532 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 2: taken a bit of a hit, but then over time 533 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 2: you start to realize there this backlash where it's like, no, actually, 534 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 2: homemade things are better. 535 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: That's a great point. Yeah, I never thought about it 536 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: that way, and I completely agree you sold me on 537 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: this because we're smack dab in the industrial age at 538 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: this point in time, right, so, store made, mass produced 539 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: stuff is now being seen as a flex being able 540 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: to afford that kind of thing instead of being a 541 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: person of lower means working at home so I completely 542 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 1: agree with you. We see automation factories, mass production. This 543 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: is a fundamental sea change in civilization. It affects pretty 544 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: much everything. Fruitcakes are no exception. Businesses start churning out 545 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: armies of mail order fruitcakes and they're not as good 546 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: as the ones you would make. 547 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 2: At home, and they flooded the market, and those really 548 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 2: got to the point where it's like this again, there's 549 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 2: no love behind it. It's just something that everybody has. 550 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 2: They're all the same, and they're all kind of gross. 551 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, because the production technology is not fully formed yet. 552 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 2: Nor is the food science of it, all the preservation 553 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 2: of things doing it on that level of scale, because 554 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 2: if you're making them at home, you're making them in 555 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 2: small batches, like our buddy Alex Williams and his George 556 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 2: Washington eggnog as we know the he distributes does every 557 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 2: Christmas and little Mason jars, and those would not last, 558 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 2: you know, necessarily, they might curdle over time if you 559 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 2: don't drink them pretty quickly. But you're making something in 560 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 2: mass produced quantities, they're gonna be a little drier and 561 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 2: grosser and not quite as delectable as something that you 562 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 2: know your Mema made it home exactly. 563 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, this was a well known quality issue. It's similar 564 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: to how early airplane food wasn't super appetizing. 565 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 2: Still ain't great, but it's better. 566 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 1: You're better. Yeah, progress is being made. The problem with 567 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: airline food was due to constraints on ingredients and also 568 00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: people's unfamiliarity with how high altitudes can your sense of taste. 569 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 2: That did not occur to me then, and I'm sure 570 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 2: it's come up between us before. And also pro tip 571 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 2: that it came from you, Ben, credit where credit has 572 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 2: always due. Always go for the vegetarian option. It's just 573 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 2: if you're if you're worried whether you're a vege or not, 574 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 2: you are much less likely to get ill. I stick 575 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 2: with the vege option. 576 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: Also, to jump in, he real quick, let's just all 577 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: point out of Ben basically not these exact words, but 578 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:25,640 Speaker 1: basically just said, what's the deal with air. 579 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 3: Yes? 580 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you? Oh next, well we got you. 581 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 1: Here is Alex making his famous George Washington, Uh what 582 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 1: do nogg? 583 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 2: Yeah? Not that I know, but I can ask him. 584 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, let us know, because uh, I'll tell you. I 585 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: enjoy I think we all enjoyed it. As an experience 586 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: of living history. But that was a little too high 587 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: test for me. But Ben Homeboy would also just like 588 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:55,719 Speaker 1: I think, no, you know what it was. 589 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 2: It was covid era, And there was a year where 590 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 2: he just put it in a ice chest on his 591 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 2: front porch and had written everybody's names on their individual 592 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 2: proportions and you could just go pick it up. It 593 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 2: was such a nice thing to look forward to. Yeah, 594 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 2: you know, kudos to anyone that's doing homemade gifts. I 595 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 2: think it's a wonderful. 596 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: It's really an extra step at this point because the 597 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: only true currency is time. So if you were lucky 598 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,480 Speaker 1: enough to receive a homemade gift that is not obviously 599 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,320 Speaker 1: meant to be a blatant insult, they really appreciate it. 600 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: I'm not talking about like a homemade car and you 601 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: open it up and it says, hey you buddy, that 602 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 1: would be funny thought of that. 603 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 2: I'm not mad about it. 604 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: I think it's worth a chuckle. And just like you said, Max, 605 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: with airplane food jokes, comedians love to talk smack about 606 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,600 Speaker 1: the humble fruitcake, especially the mass produced ones. We've got 607 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 1: a little bit of media history. It was fascinating, I 608 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: think to all of us to learn that. Historians will 609 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 1: often argue that Johnny Carson is the reason fruitcakes stumbled 610 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: from a flex to a joke, because during his reign 611 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: on The Tonight Show, he would take repeated shots and 612 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:11,719 Speaker 1: fruitcakes even had this conspiracy theory where he claimed there 613 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: was really only one fruitcake on the entire planet, and 614 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: it just keeps getting past a rep. 615 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 2: Why don't we play a little tiny clip of one 616 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 2: of this moments from the Tonight Show from nineteen eighty 617 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 2: nine December twenty eighth, talking about the fruitcake Lady, I'm 618 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 2: going to talk about fruitcakes video on last night. I 619 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:35,000 Speaker 2: think he name was Gladys Farik from Texas, who made fruitcakes. 620 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 2: We have made a lot of jokes. 621 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: Did you ever get a fruitcake for Christmas? 622 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 2: I go on this Christmas? You eat it? No, that's 623 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 2: the dam that's the damn. Nobody eats. You keep it 624 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,160 Speaker 2: for a long time, You put it up in the 625 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 2: closet somewhere, and then you wait on next Christmas and 626 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 2: you to somebody else. 627 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: See, we're not blowing smoke here. This is only and 628 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: I love that you pulled that reference. This is only 629 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 1: one of the times that this guy talks trash. 630 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, he even mentioned that this, like this is nineteen 631 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,000 Speaker 2: eighty nine, so this may well even been a clip 632 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 2: from you know, well into his anti fruitcake campaign. 633 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a very strong stance on Johnny's side. And 634 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:18,400 Speaker 1: this bit continues on The Tonight Show after Carson unfortunately 635 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,920 Speaker 1: passes away. There's a character called the Fruitcake Lady. She 636 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,440 Speaker 1: would appear on the program and do a routine about 637 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:30,360 Speaker 1: fruitcake opinions. Now, obviously The Tonight Show was a cultural giant, 638 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,279 Speaker 1: immensely popular during Carson's time there, during his tenure or 639 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 1: his reign. But maybe historians are being a little too 640 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: hard on the guy. He's not the only fruitcake character assassin. 641 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 1: He also wasn't the first person in media to talk 642 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:46,839 Speaker 1: smack about it. Other TV shows were doing this. 643 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, like The Donna Reid Show or Father Knows Best, 644 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,920 Speaker 2: these shows that sort of portrayed the idyllic sort of home. 645 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 2: I would love to even see a list of like 646 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 2: classic fruitcake dishes, because in my mind I'm certain that 647 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 2: like I Love Lucy probably poking fun at the fruitcake. 648 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 2: It is almost now that we think about it, a 649 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 2: little cliche. This idea of making fun of the of 650 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 2: the fruitcake around Christmas. 651 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: Right now, we're to a meta point where we're making 652 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: fun of making fun of fruitcakes. Right This is a, 653 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: as you said, somewhat cliche media tradition in itself, and 654 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 1: it dates back all the way to Warner Brothers cartoons 655 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,759 Speaker 1: from the early twentieth century. We already mentioned that fruitcake 656 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 1: got slangified in a hilarious, unhelpful way to its reputation. 657 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,799 Speaker 1: It's associated with an insult, but it's not all bad. 658 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 1: The reputation of the fruitcake is not beyond repair. Fellow 659 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: ridiculous historians. We were interested to learn that it is 660 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: the object of several types of celebrations, one of them 661 00:35:50,719 --> 00:35:54,799 Speaker 1: being the Great Fruitcake Toss of Manitose Springs, Colorado. 662 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:55,920 Speaker 2: Is that like a keika waka? 663 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:58,240 Speaker 1: What's a kekeo waka? 664 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 2: A kekeowaka? You know, a kekohaka where you you got 665 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,840 Speaker 2: the chairs and circle and you land on the seat 666 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 2: with the cake in it, and then you gotta sit 667 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:08,879 Speaker 2: on it, you gotta smash it, you get to take 668 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 2: it home. But that was an old timey fair tradition 669 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:13,719 Speaker 2: or a thing. You'd maybe do it like a you know, 670 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 2: a Neighborhood Fun Festival. 671 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. My old sketch comedy group used 672 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: to do a fundraising thing we called cake sit, and 673 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,320 Speaker 1: it was just that it was ultimately spoiler for the show. Folks. 674 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: It culminated in us sitting not quite bare butt onto 675 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: some cakes, smashing, smashing. Yes, it was an interesting time, 676 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 1: but it was for a good cause. The Great Fruitcake 677 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: Toss is exactly what it sounds like. On the first 678 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:47,600 Speaker 1: Saturday of January, people gather in town. They bring their 679 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: own fruitcakes or recycled fruitcakes, and they just literally try 680 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: to see who can toss it the farthest. 681 00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 2: Sorry, smashing is not what it's called. I just I 682 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 2: don't know why I made that up. Smashes of course, 683 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:03,479 Speaker 2: like a classic YouTube comedy troupe, which I quite enjoy 684 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 2: but I just looked it up and it's just called 685 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:09,319 Speaker 2: cake sitting. But then there's this article that refers to 686 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,160 Speaker 2: it as wet and messy fetishism. 687 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: Oh wow, okayol. 688 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:19,080 Speaker 2: No no cake shaming here, I just wet and messy fetishism. 689 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:20,839 Speaker 2: They're just the mind conjureds so much. 690 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,919 Speaker 1: I don't you know. No, I appreciate this because now 691 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:29,239 Speaker 1: it's making me question the motives and the enthusiasm of 692 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:32,839 Speaker 1: our director in that in that fundraiser. You know what, 693 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:35,759 Speaker 1: You're probably right, then there's something. There's something to that, 694 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 1: Oh Bill, I'll teach there and we guess. The current 695 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:43,400 Speaker 1: record for a fruitcake tossy is one four hundred and 696 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:44,240 Speaker 1: twenty feet. 697 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,440 Speaker 2: Was there a prize? Would you get? Like what happened? 698 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 2: This was literally just chucking the fruitcake sort of like 699 00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,759 Speaker 2: a punkin chunkin situation? But would you get something? Would 700 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,920 Speaker 2: you get to keep the fruitcake? And would it probably 701 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,360 Speaker 2: survive the chuck in because it was so you know, 702 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 2: hearty and robust. 703 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,919 Speaker 1: I hope it is exactly as you describe. I hope 704 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:11,440 Speaker 1: it is a meta level Sissyphian prize. I hope every 705 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,840 Speaker 1: victory is pyrrhic and that the ultimate prize is just 706 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:16,560 Speaker 1: more fruitcake prize. 707 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 2: The ultimate prize, Ben is the friends we made along 708 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:19,480 Speaker 2: the way. 709 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 1: There a wee goo. If you were ever in this 710 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 1: town in Colorado and it happens to be January, do 711 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,840 Speaker 1: check out the toss It sounds like a great time. 712 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:32,600 Speaker 1: We hope you had a great time with us folks. 713 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:35,960 Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Always this was a delay and we do. 714 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:40,160 Speaker 2: Hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, whatever you might celebrate, 715 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:42,319 Speaker 2: or just using it again as a way of just 716 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,000 Speaker 2: spending some time with your friends and family. 717 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: Absolutely, big big shout out to our super producer mister 718 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:51,680 Speaker 1: Max Williams Alex Williams who composed this track, and just 719 00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:56,640 Speaker 1: because it's the holidays, a respectful shout out to our 720 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 1: own crampis, Jonathan Strickland aka the quiz. 721 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:01,120 Speaker 2: Ampiest of Crampuses. 722 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:02,320 Speaker 1: He's got some cramps. 723 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 2: We love you, baby, Jake. We'll see you next eight books. 724 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 725 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.