It’s not too soon to bake that fruitcake

Hilde G. Lee Daily Progress correspondent
Published: December 2, 2008

Now is the time to bake that Christmas fruitcake, and there is no time to waste if you want to age it and blend all of the flavors. This is particularly true if you plan on splashing the baked cake with brandy or other spirits.

The dark, rich cake that signifies fruitcake to many of us is typically English and came to America with the Colonists. Cakes rich in fruit originally were baked for Christmas not only in England, but also all over Europe.

Precious fruit

The custom of fruitcakes goes back to the days when a cake rich in precious fruit was a delicacy and was not affordable at other times of the year. Currants, raisins, dates, candied peels and spices are not a luxury item to us as they were in days of early America.

In Colonial days, especially in the Southern states, fruitcakes were the pride of the cook and signified the finest fare the home could offer. Housewives competed in the art of blending fruits and spices in new and delicious ways. To this day some of the finest fruitcakes are made in the South.

When I was growing up in Abingdon, my father’s patients frequently brought him fruitcakes for Christmas. Besides the home-baked ones, one of the finest and most delicious was a Claxton fruitcake, made in the South.

The Claxton Fruit Cake story dates back 1910 when Savino Tos, an Italian immigrant, opened a bakery in Claxton, Ga. Tos had come to the United States in the early 1900s and settled in New York. Trained in Italy as a pastry maker, Tos worked in a Brooklyn hotel as a master baker. However, he soon tired of the hectic life in the city. Faced with the opportunity to move from New York, he accepted a job in Macon, Ga., with a company making ice cream.

Love of the South

The young Italian fell in love with the South and traveled throughout Georgia. On one of his trips, Tos stopped in Claxton, a small agricultural community. He was attracted by the friendliness of the people and the fact that the town did not have a bakery. When the ice cream business he was working for in Macon fell on hard times and closed, Tos decided to move to Claxton and open a bakery.

The bakery was an instant success. Townsfolk flocked to the small shop for delicious baked goods and homemade ice cream. The first fall Tos was in Claxton, he decided to bake fruitcakes, using premium quality fruits and nuts.

In 1927, a sandy-haired lad of 11 named Albert Parker walked into the bakery and asked Tos for a job. The youngster accepted an apron from Tos along with a list of chores. Parker came to the bakery each morning before daybreak and fired the large oven for the day’s baking. He helped

prepare the dough and completed other tasks before heading to school. After classes, Albert hastily covered the six blocks back to the bakery, where he worked until dark.

In 1945 Savino Tos decided to retire from the bakery and devote his time to other business interests. Having established a trusting relationship with young Parker, Tos decided to sell him the bakery.

After Parker acquired the bakery, he began to search for ways to expand the business. During the mid-1940s many traditional bakery items had become staples in supermarkets. There were racks of fresh loaves of bread and cold storage for ice cream cartons. So Parker decided to specialize in a high-quality fruitcake — a unique product for the holiday season.

In his first year of mass production, Parker and a few employees baked 45,000 pounds of Claxton Fruit Cake. He worked diligently to develop sales and distribution of his cakes. As the number of sales outlets increased, Parker’s operations expanded. People all over the country began talking about those delicious fruitcakes with the horse and buggy label.

In the early 1950s, a representative of the Civitan Club of Tampa, Fla., visited Parker’s operation. The civic club was looking for a fundraising item and Claxton fruitcakes seemed to be a perfect choice. As the result of the Tampa Civitans success selling Claxton Fruit Cakes as a fundraiser and spreading the word to other clubs, more and more groups discovered the sales appeal of Parker’s fruitcakes.

Today, the Claxton Bakery services the fundraising needs of more than 1,000 organizations throughout North America. The fruitcakes also are available in many national chain grocery stores during the holiday season.

In 1964 and 1965 Claxton Fruit Cake had an exhibit at the New York World’s Fair. People from all over the world sampled the delicacy. This exposure earned the company many new customers and sales opportunities. Parker took advantage of other innovative ways to market his unique product by sponsoring elaborate floats in nationally televised events such as the Orange Bowl Parade in Miami and the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington. 

Parker continued operating the Claxton Bakery until his death on May 21, 1995. His three sons and his daughter now manage the bakery. The company’s commitment to quality, value and service continue to guide the Claxton Bakery.

Claxton Fruit Cakes are available by calling (800) 841-4211. Most of the cakes are shipped with free delivery anywhere in the country. The cakes come in various sizes from one pound to three pounds and are available either regular or dark. The difference lies in the molasses, spices and raisins. The regular contains golden raisins and outsells the dark eight to one.

We have enjoyed both, but I ordered the regular this time to share with friends who were not familiar with fruitcake. They loved it.