‘Fruitcake is having a moment:’ Johnny Carson’s pointed jokes set the industry back, but this holiday tradition is making a triumphant return 

It was around Christmas in 1989, when Johnny Carson held a small box up to the “Tonight Show” cameras.

“What do you think this weighs?” Carson said, his wrist bending from the weight. “It’s only a small box. But it weighs about 2 pounds.”

It was a holiday fruitcake, but it might as well have been a magic pistol, about to fire a devastating bullet at the fruitcake industry.

“Nobody eats (fruitcakes),” Carson said. “You put it up in the closet somewhere, then you wait until next Christmas, and you give it to somebody else.