Pop out cake
A pop out cake, popout cake or surprise cake is a large object made to serve as a surprise for a celebratory occasion. Externally, such a construction appears to be an oversized cake, and sometimes actually is, at least in part. However, the construction is usually cardboard. The inside of the object has a space for a someone, traditionally a young, attractive woman, to crouch and hide until the moment of surprise, when she then stands up and comes out of the cake.
Background
The ancient Romans held feasts featuring meat of one animal stuffed inside another.[1] Eventually, Petronius attempted to make it look as if the animals stuffed inside appeared to be alive.[1] This tradition evolved until serving food with live animals, such as doves and frogs, bursting out became a culinary feat.[1] In 1626, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham presented King Charles I of England with a pie from which sprang the dwarf Jeffrey Hudson, in a suit of armor.[1][2] By the 1800s, women popping out of cakes at wealthy male-only parties was common in elite social circles.[1] It eventually became common for showgirls to pop out of cakes for celebratory occasions.[3]
Famous surprises
The instance that brought the tradition to public light was in 1895 when Evelyn Nesbit jumped out of a cake for Stanford White, and was captured in a photo that made its way into newspapers. Later, Nesbit's eventual husband Harry Thaw murdered White at Madison Square Garden.[4] Another version of this story has it that Thaw sought revenge for another reason and that someone other than Nesbit jumped out of the cake that was featured at a 1895 extravagant dinner party for New York City high society gentlemen (including Charles Dana Gibson and Nikola Tesla) thrown by White.[1]
Often the person jumping out of the cake is a stripper, showgirl or model. However, Bill Murray jumped out of a cake in celebration of David Letterman's 2015 retirement from Late Show.[5] Murray had been Letterman's first guest on Late Night with David Letterman when it debuted on NBC in 1982 and his first guest on Late Show with David Letterman when Letterman moved his show to CBS in 1993.[5] Murray and Bob Dylan were Letterman's final guests.[6]
In popular culture
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Sir Fred Hoyle was an advocate of the Steady State theory of the universe and considered theories that described a beginning as pseudoscience.[7] When he coined the term Big Bang on BBC Radio for the theory that he opposed, he stated that it was as undignified a way to describe the beginnings of the Universe as "a party girl jumping out of a cake".[8][9]
- Erika Eleniak jumped out of a cake in the 1992 movie Under Siege.[10]
- In the September 11, 1992 "Joker's Favor" episode of Batman: The Animated Series, The Joker jumps out of a cake to catch police officers by surprise and take them hostage.[11]
- Mariah Carey jumps out of a cake in the music video for the 2001 song "Loverboy".[12]
- In 2004, Naomi Campbell popped out of a cake for her then-boyfriend Usher's 26th birthday party at the Rainbow Room.[13]
See also
References
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