Leno Takes Bite of 125-Year-Old Fruitcake

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Leno Takes Bite of 125-Year-Old Fruitcake


Morgan Ford with the 125-year-old fruitcake. (AP Photo)
Dec 19, 2003


By Associated Press

December 24, 2003, 6:21 AM EST


DETROIT -- Jay Leno was warned he may need a doctor, but went through with eating a 125-year-old fruitcake anyway.

"Is it crystalized," Leno said before eating a small bite pried from the cake with a pocketknife.

"It needs more time," he said after a deliberate chew.

Morgan Ford, 83, of Tecumseh, was Leno's guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." He brought his great-grandmother Fidelia Bates' fruitcake to Burbank, Calif., to share a piece with Leno for Tuesday's night's show.

Ford is the caretaker of the fruitcake, which has been handed down through generations.

Ford's daughter, Julie Ruttinger, of Tecumseh, e-mailed "The Tonight Show" recently about her family's antique fruitcake after seeing "The Fruitcake Lady" on the show. She wanted to tell them "we've got the real fruitcake."