The Tradition Of Paying For The Christmas Cake

A fun but mostly vanished Christmas tradition

One feature about Christmas that we all love is the food. From tourtiere to St. Catharine’s Taffy, there is something for everyone when it comes to Christmas food.

With all that food, there are also traditions to go along with it.

One tradition relates to Christmas Cake, but that tradition has mostly vanished in Canada.

It is the tradition of Paying For The Christmas Cake.

The practice existed mostly in the late-19th and early-20th centuries during a time when it was a bit more difficult getting all the ingredients needed for a cake. There was no such thing as buying pre-made cake mix at the grocery store.

Paying For The Christmas Cake was a pretty simple game.

Using a deck of cards, friends and family played to determine who was going to pay for flour. The game could vary between playing a full-length card game, or drawing cards to see who lost based on who had the lowest or highest card.

If a person lost, they were responsible for contributing the money for the flour, or going out and buying the flour.

The following day, they played again. This time it was to determine who paid for the raisins for the cake.

This continued for the next few days, with each of the ingredients, with the winning person paying nothing at all.

Once the ingredients were collected, the group came together to bake the cake and enjoy it together at a party.

It was a simple tradition, that helped everyone enjoy some cake during the Christmas season, without anyone breaking the bank to pay for it.