Postcards from Snagglepuss: Fruitcake Ahead!
Oh, yes–where exactly were we?
Now I remember: Lampasas, Texas, spending the night in a rather seedy motel with an equally-seedy properitor who didn’t seem to care hair or hyde much for the property. But still, with our preference for “old-school” motels of a “mom-and-pop” sort in particular, Huckleberry Hound and yours truly decided to put up with it. Until sunrise, as it emerged for some reason or another … and found a rather decent open-all-hours diner of the sort as seems to be endemic to parts of Texas, the sort as serves halfway decent breakfasts with generous portions and plenty of fresh-ground coffee as well. Definite biscuits-and-gravy type for the most part, but had myself a Denver omlette, plenty of hash browns on the side even….
And to reach Corsicana, where this Original DeLuxe Fruitcake happens to come from in the first place, turned out to involve some rather creative tracking: First, FM (that’s “Farm-to-Market Road,” for such of you unacquainted with things Texan) 580 up to the one-horse-town of Pidcoke, on the western fringes of Fort Hood, thence joining FM 116 to US 84 just west of Gatesville, then on 84 to (and through) Waco, decent-sized city by Texan standards but still somewhat provincial … and then, directly into Corsicana via Texas 31, northeast-by-southwest essentially when you look at it on the map.
Which, when all was said and done, actually turned out rather easy … because it was just getting on the edge of midday when Huck and I pulled into Corsicana proper, and found, right on Texas 31 itself (as in West 7th Avenue in Corsicana), none other than the Collin Street Bakery, Home of the Original DeLuxe Fruitcake, “That Famous ‘Corsicana’ Fruit Cake”–but who are we to kid the Collin Street Bakery, seeing as where fruitcake has long been the subject of extreme ridicule, jokes, insults even? Especially during what’s commonly known as the Festive Season, and spare us that “War on Chbristmas” poppycock as well!
(And don’t I recall a certain Mayor Trollover Lumpkin back in Trolltown dismissing someone as being “nutty as a troll cake,” come to think of it?)
Anyhow: For a town whose other big claim to fame was that it was where oil was first discovered in Texas (and by accident, incidentally, when a crew was drilling for water), fruitcake seems to be Corsicana’s pride and joy … but not just any fruitcake, to be honest about it: It’s a fruitcake which became world famous thanks to the late Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, whose troupe, after playing Corsicana over a century ago, trooped over to the original bakery site and requested fruitcakes to be sent to friends back in “the old country” (and then some). Not to mention many of the greats of business, sport and entertainment as have remained faithful to the DeLuxe season after season … as well as three Monde Selection awards, a citation from the New York Gourmet Society and even the Texas State Historical Commission recognising its importance via an Official State Historic Marker.
Think of it: 27% Native Texas pecans … 15% batter … and the remaining 58% being some of the finest fruits from the world over. All in a recipe which co-founder Gus Weidemann brought over from Germany in 1896, and whose end result was made famous by one Tom McElwee, a cotton broker who partnered in the venture, fond of flamboyant promotion and encouraging all the stars who played Corsicana to buy a couple extra fruitcakes to take with them on the train out. And you thought you’ve had fruitcake yourself … until you realise that The Original DeLuxe IS “That Famous 'Corsicana’ Fruit Cake.” So much so, in fact, that for years, much of the mail as involved fruitcake orders was addressed simply “Fruit Cake, Texas”–how it managed to arrive is anybody’s guess.
Somehow, it seems, The Original DeLuxe Fruitcake may still be “star of the show” … but they’ve also offered other bakery staples like bread, cakes, pies (especially Native Texas pecan pies, in classical and fudge varieties), cookies … and as if fruitcake wasn’t good enough, consider that they have started serving deli sandwiches, soups and salads as well. Freshly made on their own bread, even! Not just at the “mother bakery” in Corsicana, but at four other retail locations in Texas, including one out by I-45 as you head out of Corsicana.
And who said the Collin Street Bakery was only about fruitcake, to begin with? (Oh, just so you know: We bought ourselves a modest DeLuxe Fruitcake for to snack on “on the road.” Not to mention some whole-grain bread and some of those scrumptious Cherry Icebox Cookies, so unbelievably delicious in their own way.)
Fruitcake, thy name is Corsicana.
Source: tr3forever.deviantart.com