—Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory

In fact, we now even have a more-or-less national holiday called Fruitcake Toss Day on January 3rd, in which those afflicted with fruitcakes are encouraged, publicly, to chuck them. In some places—such as Manitou Springs, Colorado—repudiated fruitcakes are launched into the ether with everything from slingshots to exercise-bike-powered cannons. These are people who really don’t like fruitcake.

It’s not clear just when and why the fruitcake took such a plunge in popularity. Some sources blame Tonight Show host Johnny Carsonblame Tonight Show host Johnny Carsonblame Tonight Show host Johnny Carsonblame Tonight Show host Johnny Carsonblame Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, who famously claimed that there was just one fruitcake in the world,