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Fruitcake, nuts and vintage value

Fruitcake, a Christmas food tradition, has long been the target of tasteless ridicule. But before accusing its fans of being “nutty as a fruitcake,” ponder the benefits a remarkably durable chunk of it will bestow in Clermont County, Ohio.

In an online auction based there last week, an Arizona man paid $525 for a 70-year-old fruitcake, according to The Associated Press. The previous owner, 86-year-old Frank Bates, donated it for the sale on the condition that proceeds go to a church outreach program that helps the homeless.

According to the auction company, the fruitcake drew calls from all over the world, including Britain, Japan and Australia. Some bids of more than $1,000 came in a day after the sale was closed.

The potential buyers weren’t looking for a sticky dessert amalgamation bolstered by rum. They were looking for profit potential from a savvy investment.

The AP reported that the fruitcake, made and sold by the Kroger grocery store company in the Cincinnati area in 1941, was returned to a Kroger “in 1971 with a note saying it was one of six purchased by the man who signed the note.”

And: “The note said the cake traveled thousands of miles ‘during its 30 years of life’ and was ‘subjected to all types of climatic conditions and shocks.’ The note said the cake’s owner was moving again and wanted to return it to its original owner, Kroger.”

Mr. Bates, who worked at a Kroger, took the fruitcake home with him after the store’s manager decided to get rid of it.

So while nobody will apparently ever know how good that fruitcake would have tasted, it has ended up doing some good.

The moral of this holiday story: Take care in deciding which Christmas presents to throw away or “re-gift.”

Meanwhile, don’t be too hasty to poke fun at fruitcake, which in light of that auction sales price just might belong on the commodities market.

Or should that 1941 culinary relic instead be classified as an antique?

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