The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-08-14
VEDDINGCAKEMYSTERl'
sUPERsTlTloNs CLUSTER
AROUND THE MARRIAGE
FEAST.


His Asslstants-Some Cakes Are
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.
All wedding cakes are fearfully and
wonderfully made but some are more
wonderful than others The bigger
the cake the more mysteries II can con-
tain, hence the seeker after novelties In
wedding cakes would do we'll to make
tour Of the bakeries In the foreign coli
onies, where a gigantic cake Is an im-
portant accessory 10 every marriage.
Or, If he has not time to 90 the rounds,
he can concentrate his attention upon
one rather small downtown bakeshop
and learn there everything there is to
be learned on the subject.
The proprietor Of that shop is chock-
full Of wedding cake ;ore. He divides
his cakes INTO classes, first according
to ne,.t.2nality This It not hard to do,
for while a wedding cake Is a wedding
cake the world over, 1t is run off in
many different editions, and the archi-
lecture of the more pretentlous ones
is frequently modelled after famous edi-
fees in the Fatherland and doctored up
/ with ingredients that give the whole
CONNECTION a decidedly national tang.
For example, there are Russian towers,
Turkish minarets, and Gothic facades
and quadrangles done in sugar, and all
favored with a peculiar essence that
tells the initiated to what land the
, brides family belongs.
The largest wedding cakes turned out
in that particular shop are those built
in Russian style. The designs therein
employed cali for generous proportions,
and by the time the various sections Of
the cake have been Joined together the
whole is a thing at which to marvel.
when you Bake cakes Of unusual
size and shape, who is responsible for
the designs?" asked a visitor who had
been admiring one such gigantic pro
duct o. the bakers skill.
Sometimes l Study them out for my
self, sometimes the wedding party Of
fers suggestions. | prefer to do all the
planning myself, however, for, if do
say it, know how to- put up an artis-
istic cake, at least so far as external
appearances go. On the other hand,
my customers ideas on the subject are
often perfectly crazy, amt If try to fol-
low their instructions l am, sure to turn
out a real freak in confectionery, and
that is always painful to- professional
pride
1T is at other peoples suggestions.
too, that mix in all thH sentimental
gimcracks with which 1. sometimes
spoil an otherwise good cake Being an
old hand at the business, L liIBTW what
liberties can be properly taken with
the internal arrangement of q wedding
cake, so, of course, | always attend to
the rings and the china dolls and the
other conventional superfuitieB;. but if
you ever get hold of a piece VI cake
baked at this shop and break your
teeth on an ola coin or a. queer charm
I or something of that kind you may,
! rest assured that l am not responsible
| for the accident. The customer order
ed the thing put in Those amulets and
heirlOOms are a part; of his sllperstsi-
! diOB.
Just because a man has esnigrahed
to New York and sattled downin this
matter-of-fact city is no sign. that he
! has left his fourteenth century, snpar-
stitiOns in the old country. The chances
are that he did not. or even if he did
his wife is pretty sure to hold ON to
them, and as a number Of those absurd
faneies are centred in wedding cake,
/ am bound to humor their whims when
mixing the batter. Many Of that class
! have their queer bafiefs so deeply in
grained that they make their GIVE
cak0ss~ However, if they hare nO6 the
facilities for baking, they are obliged to
intrust it to the s4Crilegiouss hands OF
a mere baker, in which cas- Rthey come
down here in EMnCh to superlntend
the mixing process They do that be-
cause at a particular point in the pro-
eeedings it is desirable to perform GER
tain curious incamations. ThCRa, Out
Eandish signs and gibbeIish ara sup
posed to bestow upon the cake. certain
virtues that will be impaired to, all who
eat of it, and me bride would rather
live an old mGd to 'tae end of dhe
chapter than emit thesa, Quear ohser-
vances. Naturally l don't approve Of
any such tomf2olery, and it aats dread
fully on the nerves OF my men to have
all those outsiders dawdll1g around,
drOning and whining while they are at
work beating eggs and creaming but
ter and sugar; but since q wedding
cake is quite an expansive luxury, can
afford to erant a fesg concessions to the