Pop out cake

"Emily Ratajkowski atop a pop out cake for 2013 GQ Türkiye photo shoot"
Model Emily Ratajkowski posing from the open top of a pop out cake for the 2013 GQ Türkiye photo shoot
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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

When Fred Hoyle 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".[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Robinson, Kelly (July 7, 2015). "How Did The Practice of Women Jumping Out Of Giant Cakes Start?". Today I Found Out. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  2. ↑ Lloyd, John; Mitchison, John. The QI Book of the Dead. Bloomsbury: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24491-1.
  3. ↑ Wade, Maren (July 23, 2014). "[Confessions of a Showgirl] The Truth About Being The Girl Inside The Cake". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Groom's Playbook". Groomstand. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Watch Bill Murray Jump Out of a Cake for David Letterman". Time. May 20, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Watch Bill Murray Pop Out Of A Cake On The Late Show With David Letterman". Cinemablend. May 20, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  7. ↑ Eisen, Arri and Gary Laderman (March 4, 2015). "Science, Religion and Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Controversy" (eBook). Routledge. p. 372.
  8. ↑ Bushell, Garry (April 6, 2014). "The Top 40 Ultimate Action Movies: Arnold Schwarzenegger ups the beef stakes". Daily Star. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  9. ↑ "DC Comics Encyclopedia". p. 732.
  10. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (February 1, 2002). "Mariah Mania: Resolving the Kitsch Factor". Slant. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Naomi Campbell Surprises Boyfriend Usher". People. October 5, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
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