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A '''pop out cake''', '''popout cake''', '''jump out cake''', or '''surprise cake''' is a large object made to serve as a [[Surprise (emotion)|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 someone, traditionally an attractive young woman, to crouch and hide until the moment of surprise, when she then stands up and comes out of the cake.
A '''pop out cake''', '''popout cake''', '''jump out cake''', or '''surprise cake''' is a large object made to serve as a [[Surprise (emotion)|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 someone, traditionally an attractive young woman, to crouch and hide until the moment of surprise, when she then stands up and comes out of the cake.


==Background==
==History==
The ancient Romans held feasts featuring meat of one animal stuffed inside another.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> Eventually, [[Petronius]] attempted to make it look as if the animals stuffed inside appeared to be alive.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> In Medieval Europe, the [[entremets]], a between-courses dish, developed into a form of entertainment, which could include the presentation of a pie with live animals, such as [[dove]]s and [[frog]]s, bursting out.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> Such spectacles were known as early as the 1400s and continued into the 18th century, when it was memorialized in the nursery rhyme "[[Sing a Song of Sixpence]]," wherein live blackbirds are placed in a pie shell to be served for a king's feast.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/>
The ancient Romans held feasts featuring meat of one animal stuffed inside another.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> Eventually, [[Petronius]] attempted to make it look as if the animals stuffed inside appeared to be alive.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> In Medieval Europe, the [[entremets]], a between-courses dish, developed into a form of entertainment, which could include the presentation of a pie with live animals, such as [[dove]]s and [[frog]]s, bursting out.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> Such spectacles were known as early as the 1400s and continued into the 18th century, when it was memorialized in the nursery rhyme "[[Sing a Song of Sixpence]]," wherein live blackbirds are placed in a pie shell to be served for a king's feast.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/>


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[[File:The Girl in the Pie from The World October 13 1895.png|thumb|"The Girl in the Pie", ''The World'', 1895]]
[[File:The Girl in the Pie from The World October 13 1895.png|thumb|"The Girl in the Pie", ''The World'', 1895]]
From the 1800s onwards, the pop out cake became exclusive to attractive young women jumping out of cakes during decadent parties.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vocal.media/filthy/history-of-women-jumping-out-of-cakes |title=History of Women Jumping Out of Cakes |publisher=INDUSTRY / POP CULTURE |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref>
The concept became notorious after [[Stanford White]] put on a dinner on May 20, 1895 that included a scantily-clad girl, Susie Johnson, emerging from a pie made from galvanized iron, accompanied by a recitation of "Sing a Song of Sixpence".{{efn-ua|"The pie bearers advanced solemnly down the center of the room, and after much shuffling of chairs deposited their burden in the center of the table. It was apparently a beautiful pie of mammoth size, but not of the ordinary shape. The crust was brown and flaky, and the aroma was delicious. The head waiter, with a solemnity and importance born of the possession of a stupendous secret, advanced to the table, and with a quick movement cut the crust of the pie with a silver knife. The pie divided as if by magic, and, falling apart, disclosed Susie Johnson, the sixteen-year-old model. A great bevy of canaries, which had been inclosed<!-- sic --> with her, flew into the room and perched on the easels, on the pictures, anywhere they could find refuge.
The concept became notorious after [[Stanford White]] put on a dinner on May 20, 1895 that included a scantily-clad girl, Susie Johnson, emerging from a pie made from galvanized iron, accompanied by a recitation of "Sing a Song of Sixpence".{{efn-ua|"The pie bearers advanced solemnly down the center of the room, and after much shuffling of chairs deposited their burden in the center of the table. It was apparently a beautiful pie of mammoth size, but not of the ordinary shape. The crust was brown and flaky, and the aroma was delicious. The head waiter, with a solemnity and importance born of the possession of a stupendous secret, advanced to the table, and with a quick movement cut the crust of the pie with a silver knife. The pie divided as if by magic, and, falling apart, disclosed Susie Johnson, the sixteen-year-old model. A great bevy of canaries, which had been inclosed<!-- sic --> with her, flew into the room and perched on the easels, on the pictures, anywhere they could find refuge.
Then there was a great shout [...] and the young model was lifted from the table to the floor. She was dressed in filmy black gauze. [...] The pie was examined with due care, and it was found to be in reality a sphere of galvanized iron covered with a crust of pastry." (1895 wire story)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/27446574/ |url-access=subscription |title=An Artist's Model in a Big Pie |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=October 14, 1895 |volume=LXII |number=91 |page=1}}</ref><ref name="CinnEnq1895">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/30900618/ |title=Missing From Home and Friends is Susie Johnson, an Artist's Model, Who Posed for the "Altogether" in Gotham |work=[[Cincinnati Enquirer]] |date=October 14, 1895 |page=5 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>}} A few months later, the "Pie Girl" having [[missing persons|disappeared]], ''The World'' ran a lurid expose of the episode that emphasized the prominence of the guests, who included [[Nikola Tesla]] and [[Charles Dana Gibson]],<ref name="CinnEnq1895"/><ref>{{cite news |title=An artist's model in a big pie |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24780326/ |accessdate=23 October 2018 |agency=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=14 Oct 1895 |pages=1}}</ref> and the scandalous nature of White's affairs. White himself was eventually murdered by [[Harry Thaw]], the husband of White's former lover, [[Evelyn Nesbit]].<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> The episode became "a sign for the decadence of art and high society."<ref name="Burns">{{cite book|last1=Burns|first1=Sarah|title=Inventing the Modern Artist: Art and Culture in Gilded Age America|date=November 27, 1996|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|location=New Haven, CT|pages=86–88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdVsQhjRQcoC&pg=PA88 |isbn=0300078595}}</ref>
Then there was a great shout [...] and the young model was lifted from the table to the floor. She was dressed in filmy black gauze. [...] The pie was examined with due care, and it was found to be in reality a sphere of galvanized iron covered with a crust of pastry." (1895 wire story)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/27446574/ |url-access=subscription |title=An Artist's Model in a Big Pie |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=October 14, 1895 |volume=LXII |number=91 |page=1}}</ref><ref name="CinnEnq1895">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/30900618/ |title=Missing From Home and Friends is Susie Johnson, an Artist's Model, Who Posed for the "Altogether" in Gotham |work=[[Cincinnati Enquirer]] |date=October 14, 1895 |page=5 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>}} A few months later, the "Pie Girl" having [[missing persons|disappeared]], ''The World'' ran a lurid expose of the episode that emphasized the prominence of the guests, who included [[Nikola Tesla]] and [[Charles Dana Gibson]],<ref name="CinnEnq1895"/><ref>{{cite news |title=An artist's model in a big pie |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24780326/ |accessdate=23 October 2018 |agency=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=14 Oct 1895 |pages=1}}</ref> and the scandalous nature of White's affairs. White himself was eventually murdered by [[Harry Thaw]], the husband of White's former lover, [[Evelyn Nesbit]].<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS"/> The episode became "a sign for the decadence of art and high society."<ref name="Burns">{{cite book|last1=Burns|first1=Sarah|title=Inventing the Modern Artist: Art and Culture in Gilded Age America|date=November 27, 1996|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|location=New Haven, CT|pages=86–88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdVsQhjRQcoC&pg=PA88 |isbn=0300078595}}</ref>


In the following years other similar acts took place, and by the 1920s it had become common, so much so that the famous French [[cabaret]] [[Moulin Rouge]] 1927 show had a grand opening consisting in dozens of female dancers popping out of huge multi-tiered artificial cakes covered in real [[Icing (food)|frosting]]. However, when the girls descended to the stage, the soles of their [[High-heeled shoe|high heels]] got doused in cake cream which proved slippery and caused them to slip and fall on stage, ruining the whole show.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/paris-by-night/moulin-rouge/big-times-big-names-moulin-rouge |title=Big Times and Big Names at the Moulin Rouge |publisher=Paris City Vision |accessdate-2019-12-14}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2019}}
At the turn of the century other similar acts took place, and by the 1920s it had become common, so much so that the famous French [[cabaret]] [[Moulin Rouge]] 1927 show had a grand opening consisting in dozens of female dancers popping out of huge multi-tiered artificial cakes covered in real [[Icing (food)|frosting]]. However, when the girls descended to the stage, the soles of their [[High-heeled shoe|high heels]] got doused in cake cream which proved slippery and caused them to slip and fall on stage, ruining the whole show.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pariscityvision.com/en/paris-by-night/moulin-rouge/big-times-big-names-moulin-rouge |title=Big Times and Big Names at the Moulin Rouge |publisher=Paris City Vision |accessdate=2019-12-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dejourenjour.com/tag/anton-fokker/ |title=DE JOUR EN JOUR (article in French) |publisher=Anton Fokker |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref>


By the 1950s, women popping out of cakes was common at male-only parties in the United States.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS">{{cite web|url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/07/practice-women-jumping-giant-cakes-start/|title=How Did The Practice of Women Jumping Out Of Giant Cakes Start?|accessdate=April 12, 2016|date=July 7, 2015|author=Robinson, Kelly|work=Today I Found Out}}</ref> It eventually became common for [[showgirl]]s to pop out of cakes for celebratory occasions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/2014/jul/23/truth-about-being-girl-inside-cake/|title=[Confessions of a Showgirl] The Truth About Being The Girl Inside The Cake|accessdate=April 12, 2016|date=July 23, 2014|author=Wade, Maren|work=[[Las Vegas Weekly]]}}</ref>
By the 1950s, women popping out of cakes was common during various social events such as office gatherings, conventions and bachelor parties. It eventually became common for [[showgirl]]s to pop out of cakes for celebratory occasions.<ref name="HDTPoWJOOGCS">{{cite web|url=http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/07/practice-women-jumping-giant-cakes-start/|title=How Did The Practice of Women Jumping Out Of Giant Cakes Start?|accessdate=April 12, 2016|date=July 7, 2015|author=Robinson, Kelly|work=Today I Found Out}}</ref>


The pop out cake has become something of a standard entertainment at [[Bachelorette party|bachelorette]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://strip-magazine.com/news/pop-out-cake/ |title=The industry’s first official and finest commercially produced pop out cake |date=January 2, 2012}}</ref> and [[Bachelor party|bachelor parties]].<ref name="groom">{{cite web|url=https://www.groomstand.com/blogs/grooms-playbook/9679807-the-origin-of-jumping-out-of-the-cake|title=Groom's Playbook|accessdate=April 12, 2016|publisher=Groomstand}}</ref>{{better source|date=July 2016}}
By the 1970s, the ascent of the feminist movement caused them to lost popularity and became exclusive to male-only parties.<ref name="History of Women Jumping Out of Cakes">{{cite web |url=https://www.thrillist.com/sex-dating/nation/the-history-of-women-popping-out-of-adult-cakes |title=The History of Women popping out of Adult Cakes |publisher=Jeremy Glass |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref> However, it became part of the pop culture, and the pop out cake has become something of a standard entertainment at [[Bachelorette party|bachelorette]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://strip-magazine.com/news/pop-out-cake/ |title=The industry’s first official and finest commercially produced pop out cake |date=January 2, 2012}}</ref> and [[Bachelor party|bachelor parties]].<ref name="groom">{{cite web|url=https://www.groomstand.com/blogs/grooms-playbook/9679807-the-origin-of-jumping-out-of-the-cake|title=Groom's Playbook|accessdate=April 12, 2016|publisher=Groomstand}}</ref>{{better source|date=July 2016}}


==Famous examples==
==Specificities==
Pop out cakes must be large enough to contain a woman in a squatting position, but not too high in order to allow her to gracefully get out of the cake. Sophisticated cakes can even include a little seat inside, so that the girl is more comfortable in case she has to remain in the cake for a long time before her popping out.<ref name="The Truth About Being The Girl Inside The Cake">{{cite web|url=http://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/2014/jul/23/truth-about-being-girl-inside-cake/|title=[Confessions of a Showgirl] The Truth About Being The Girl Inside The Cake|accessdate=April 12, 2016|date=July 23, 2014|author=Wade, Maren|work=[[Las Vegas Weekly]]}}</ref>
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Pop out cakes are a common [[trope (literature)|trope]], used especially in television and films. Notable examples include: In the movie ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959), starring [[Marilyn Monroe]], in which a gangster pops out of a cake with a machine gun, killing almost everyone in the room;<ref>{{cite web|website=ripleys.com|url=http://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/women-jumping-out-of-cakes/|title=women jumping out of cakes}}</ref>
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and pop outs by [[Erika Eleniak]] in the movie ''[[Under Siege]]'' (1992);<ref>{{cite news| title=The Top 40 Ultimate Action Movies: Arnold Schwarzenegger ups the beef stakes|work=[[Daily Star (British newspaper)|Daily Star]] | date=April 6, 2014|author=Bushell, Garry | url=http://www.dailystar.co.uk/columnists/garry-bushell/373078/Bushell-on-the-box-Top-40-Ultimate-Action-Movies| accessdate=April 12, 2016}}</ref> [[Mariah Carey]] in the [[music video]] for the song "[[Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)|Loverboy]]" (2001);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/mariah-mania-resolving-the-kitsch-factor|title=Mariah Mania: Resolving the Kitsch Factor|accessdate=April 12, 2016|date=February 1, 2002|work=[[Slant (magazine)|Slant]]|author=Cinquemani, Sal}}</ref> and [[Joker (comics)|The Joker]] in the September 11, 1992 "[[Joker's Favor]]" episode of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bymmUqU7_S8C&pg=PA732&lpg=PA732&dq=Joker+Batman+cake+hostage&source=bl&ots=Z46NMXr-KP&sig=sSbUhMEVAYhpCtFGqRKSBa1zYWc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiurLOWqorMAhWBDj4KHYbwC58Q6AEIOTAI#v=onepage&q=Joker%20Batman%20cake%20hostage&f=false|title=DC Comics Encyclopedia|page=732}}</ref>


There are many variants in shapes, sizes and heights. For a more impressive visual effect, some pop out cakes are so tall that the girl can't get out of the cake by herself; in these cases, only the upper part of her body is exhibed, and she is meant to remain inside of the cake for some time after her popping out, until the cake is wheeled offstage later during the party.<ref name="The Truth About Being The Girl Inside The Cake"/>
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In ''[[Dalton City (Lucky Luke)|Dalton City]]'', the 49th album of the [[Western (genre)|Western]] comics series ''[[Lucky Luke]]'', published in 1969, there is the [[running gag]] of a dancing girl named Belle who is meant to pop out of a huge cake made by [[The Daltons (Lucky Luke)#Averell Dalton|Averell Dalton]] while yelling "Youpee" during a wedding party, but she repeatedly fails to open the lid of the (abnormally hard) cake. At the very end of the album she eventually succeeds in popping out, only to see that the party is long over and everyone has left.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}


Until the beginning of the 1970s most pop out cakes were real. Things changed in 1975 when "the AP newspaper published an interview with a baker that worked making them for a small fee of $2,000. They were built around huge cylinders that could house an adult."<ref name="History of Women Jumping Out of Cakes"/> Nowadays, the construction is generally made of corrugated [[cardboard]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ohhappyday.com/2017/02/giant-cake-diy/ |title=Giant Cake Diy |publisher=Oh Happy Day |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref> often covered with [[whipped cream]] or [[Icing (food)|frosting]] to make them look real. Similar changes have occured concerning the top part: nowadays it is usually made of thin, almost flexible cardboard, which got bursted into pieces when the woman jumps out, while until the 1960s the lid was customarily a rigid circular plate put on the top of the structure. As an example, during a high budget reception given in the early 1950s, the girl inside of the cake inadvertently threw up the lid vertically, and it fell back on her, smashing the intricate feathered headdress she was wearing.<ref>{{cite book|title=The 1950s (American Popular Culture Through History)|first1=William|last1=Young|first2=Nancy|last2=Young|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|isbn=978-0313361609}}</ref>

==Famous examples==
Often the person jumping out of the cake is a [[stripper]], showgirl, or [[model (people)|model]] during a celebration. For example, [[Naomi Campbell]] popped out of a cake in 2004 for her then-boyfriend [[Usher (singer)|Usher]]'s 26th birthday party at the [[Rainbow Room]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,710369,00.html|title=Naomi Campbell Surprises Boyfriend Usher|accessdate=April 13, 2016|date=October 5, 2004|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref> Comedian [[Bill Murray]] jumped out of a cake in celebration of [[David Letterman]]'s 2015 retirement from ''[[Late Show (CBS TV series)|Late Show]]'';<ref name="Time"/> 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.<ref name="Time">{{cite news|first1=Nick |last1=Venable | title=Watch Bill Murray Jump Out of a Cake for David Letterman|work=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] | date=May 20, 2015 | url=http://time.com/3890421/david-letterman-bill-murray-cake/ | accessdate=April 12, 2016}}</ref>
Often the person jumping out of the cake is a [[stripper]], showgirl, or [[model (people)|model]] during a celebration. For example, [[Naomi Campbell]] popped out of a cake in 2004 for her then-boyfriend [[Usher (singer)|Usher]]'s 26th birthday party at the [[Rainbow Room]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,710369,00.html|title=Naomi Campbell Surprises Boyfriend Usher|accessdate=April 13, 2016|date=October 5, 2004|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]}}</ref> Comedian [[Bill Murray]] jumped out of a cake in celebration of [[David Letterman]]'s 2015 retirement from ''[[Late Show (CBS TV series)|Late Show]]'';<ref name="Time"/> 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.<ref name="Time">{{cite news|first1=Nick |last1=Venable | title=Watch Bill Murray Jump Out of a Cake for David Letterman|work=[[Time (magazine)|TIME]] | date=May 20, 2015 | url=http://time.com/3890421/david-letterman-bill-murray-cake/ | accessdate=April 12, 2016}}</ref>

In order to make a [[Feminism|feminist]] statement, American singer [[Katy Perry]] decided to reverse the "girl poping out of a cake" concept, considered by some as typical of a male dominated society, and instead of jumping out of a cake at the beginning of her show, she dived into a giant artificial cake after her last song at the end of her show held on October 16, 2008 in [[Guadalajara]], [[Mexico]], during the 7th Annual "Los Premios [[MTV (Latin America)|MTV Latin America]] 2008" Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1078392/Legs-akimbo-Katy-Perry-takes-spectacular-tumble-jumping-INTO-MTV-Awards-cake.html |title=Katy Perry takes a spectacular tumble after jumping INTO an MTV Awards cake |publisher=Daily Mail |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref> However, the feminist statement did not go according to plan, since she subsequently stepped on a remain of the cake thrown on the stage during her stunt, which made the soles of her ballet slippers covered in icing sugar and caused her to fall several times and left the stage crawling on her hands and knees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/katy-perrys-cake-catastrophe-at-mtv-latin-american-awards-2ww90v3k8s0 |title=Katy Perry’s cake catastrophe at MTV Latin American Awards |publisher=The Times |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyaJsNlhWpU |title=Katy Perry falls in cake, then slips |date=23 February 2013|via=YouTube}}</ref>

During the [[Miss Universe 2017]] beauty pageant, the National Costume of Miss Curaçao, Nashaira Balentien, evoked a pop out cake, with the bottom part looking like a multi-tiered cake covered with authentic sugar, and the upper part of her body popping out on the top.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://scontent-cdt1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/23674645_1602319223159960_1588047083307357446_o.jpg?_nc_cat=101&efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&_nc_ohc=oLrwdFgq18gAQlr6RepeVVOBR0BqH3C8Dnln0k-M6L-QrvhT23lJWo4PQ&_nc_ht=scontent-cdt1-1.xx&oh=57130be0d586796843e380a12c7b5528&oe=5E7031DD |title=Miss Curaçao National Costume |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref>
During her performance onstage she had huge difficulties to descend the step of the podium and ended stepping on the bottom of her own costume.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR44COIqj6I#t=0m07s |title=TRIPS, FAILS & MALFUNCTIONS during Miss Universe 2017 National Costumes |date=29 June 2019|publisher=Annabella Winsteald|via=YouTube}}</ref>


The pop out cake has been used as a [[metaphor]]. Sir [[Fred Hoyle]] was an advocate of the [[Steady State theory]] of the universe and considered theories that described a beginning as pseudoscience.<ref name="Arnheim2015">{{cite book|first1=Michael |last1=Arnheim |authorlink1=Michael Arnheim|title=The God Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nrZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|date=7 October 2015|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=978-1-84540-883-1|pages=26–}}</ref> When he 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".<ref name="EisenLaderman2015">{{cite book|first1=Arri |last1=Eisen|first2=Gary |last2=Laderman |first3=Theodore. Jr. |last3=Schick|title=God and the Big Bang|work=Science, Religion and Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Controversy|location=Hoboken |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_O7qBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA370|date=4 March 2015|publisher=[[Routledge]], [[Taylor and Francis]]|isbn=978-1-317-46013-8|pages=370–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/high_concept/1998/02/bigbang_theology.html|title=Big-Bang Theology: God makes a cosmological comeback.|author=Holt, Jim|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate=2016-05-07|date=1998-02-12}}</ref>
The pop out cake has been used as a [[metaphor]]. Sir [[Fred Hoyle]] was an advocate of the [[Steady State theory]] of the universe and considered theories that described a beginning as pseudoscience.<ref name="Arnheim2015">{{cite book|first1=Michael |last1=Arnheim |authorlink1=Michael Arnheim|title=The God Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nrZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|date=7 October 2015|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=978-1-84540-883-1|pages=26–}}</ref> When he 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".<ref name="EisenLaderman2015">{{cite book|first1=Arri |last1=Eisen|first2=Gary |last2=Laderman |first3=Theodore. Jr. |last3=Schick|title=God and the Big Bang|work=Science, Religion and Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Controversy|location=Hoboken |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_O7qBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA370|date=4 March 2015|publisher=[[Routledge]], [[Taylor and Francis]]|isbn=978-1-317-46013-8|pages=370–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/high_concept/1998/02/bigbang_theology.html|title=Big-Bang Theology: God makes a cosmological comeback.|author=Holt, Jim|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate=2016-05-07|date=1998-02-12}}</ref>

==In fictional works==
⚫
Pop out cakes are a common [[trope (literature)|trope]], used especially in television and films. Notable examples include: In the movie ''[[Some Like It Hot]]'' (1959), starring [[Marilyn Monroe]], in which a gangster pops out of a cake with a machine gun, killing almost everyone in the room;<ref>{{cite web|website=ripleys.com|url=http://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/women-jumping-out-of-cakes/|title=women jumping out of cakes}}</ref>
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and pop outs by [[Erika Eleniak]] in the movie ''[[Under Siege]]'' (1992);<ref>{{cite news| title=The Top 40 Ultimate Action Movies: Arnold Schwarzenegger ups the beef stakes|work=[[Daily Star (British newspaper)|Daily Star]] | date=April 6, 2014|author=Bushell, Garry | url=http://www.dailystar.co.uk/columnists/garry-bushell/373078/Bushell-on-the-box-Top-40-Ultimate-Action-Movies| accessdate=April 12, 2016}}</ref> [[Mariah Carey]] in the [[music video]] for the song "[[Loverboy (Mariah Carey song)|Loverboy]]" (2001);<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/mariah-mania-resolving-the-kitsch-factor|title=Mariah Mania: Resolving the Kitsch Factor|accessdate=April 12, 2016|date=February 1, 2002|work=[[Slant (magazine)|Slant]]|author=Cinquemani, Sal}}</ref> and [[Joker (comics)|The Joker]] in the September 11, 1992 "[[Joker's Favor]]" episode of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bymmUqU7_S8C&pg=PA732&lpg=PA732&dq=Joker+Batman+cake+hostage&source=bl&ots=Z46NMXr-KP&sig=sSbUhMEVAYhpCtFGqRKSBa1zYWc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiurLOWqorMAhWBDj4KHYbwC58Q6AEIOTAI#v=onepage&q=Joker%20Batman%20cake%20hostage&f=false|title=DC Comics Encyclopedia|page=732}}</ref>

Occasionally a joke of some kind is added, like it being an old lady or a hairy man, or whatever, inside of the cake, in goofy comedies like ''[[Family Guy]]'' or ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Another common joke, notably featured in the [[The Addams Family (1991 film)|''Addams Family'']] movie, is that the woman gets inside the cake before it is baked.<ref name="All the tropes">{{cite web |url=https://allthetropes.fandom.com/wiki/Jumping_Out_of_a_Cake |title=Jumping Out of a Cake |publisher=allthetropes |accessdate=2019-12-16}}</ref>

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In ''[[Dalton City (Lucky Luke)|Dalton City]]'', the 49th album of the [[Western (genre)|Western]] comics series ''[[Lucky Luke]]'', published in 1969, there is the [[running gag]] of a dancing girl named Belle who is meant to pop out of a huge cake made by [[The Daltons (Lucky Luke)#Averell Dalton|Averell Dalton]] while yelling "Youpee" during a wedding party, but she repeatedly fails to open the lid of the (abnormally hard) cake. At the very end of the album she eventually succeeds in popping out, only to see that the party is long over and everyone has left.<ref name="All the tropes"/>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 23:48, 16 December 2019

A pop out cake, popout cake, jump out 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 someone, traditionally an attractive young woman, to crouch and hide until the moment of surprise, when she then stands up and comes out of the cake.

History

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] In Medieval Europe, the entremets, a between-courses dish, developed into a form of entertainment, which could include the presentation of a pie with live animals, such as doves and frogs, bursting out.[1] Such spectacles were known as early as the 1400s and continued into the 18th century, when it was memorialized in the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence," wherein live blackbirds are placed in a pie shell to be served for a king's feast.[1]

In 1626, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham presented King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria with a pie from which sprang the dwarf Jeffrey Hudson, in a suit of armor.[A][1][2][3][4][5] The date of the pie banquet was 5 November 1626.[2][5]

"The Girl in the Pie", The World, 1895

From the 1800s onwards, the pop out cake became exclusive to attractive young women jumping out of cakes during decadent parties.[6] The concept became notorious after Stanford White put on a dinner on May 20, 1895 that included a scantily-clad girl, Susie Johnson, emerging from a pie made from galvanized iron, accompanied by a recitation of "Sing a Song of Sixpence".[B] A few months later, the "Pie Girl" having disappeared, The World ran a lurid expose of the episode that emphasized the prominence of the guests, who included Nikola Tesla and Charles Dana Gibson,[8][9] and the scandalous nature of White's affairs. White himself was eventually murdered by Harry Thaw, the husband of White's former lover, Evelyn Nesbit.[1] The episode became "a sign for the decadence of art and high society."[10]

At the turn of the century other similar acts took place, and by the 1920s it had become common, so much so that the famous French cabaret Moulin Rouge 1927 show had a grand opening consisting in dozens of female dancers popping out of huge multi-tiered artificial cakes covered in real frosting. However, when the girls descended to the stage, the soles of their high heels got doused in cake cream which proved slippery and caused them to slip and fall on stage, ruining the whole show.[11][12]

By the 1950s, women popping out of cakes was common during various social events such as office gatherings, conventions and bachelor parties. It eventually became common for showgirls to pop out of cakes for celebratory occasions.[1]

By the 1970s, the ascent of the feminist movement caused them to lost popularity and became exclusive to male-only parties.[13] However, it became part of the pop culture, and the pop out cake has become something of a standard entertainment at bachelorette[14] and bachelor parties.[15][better source needed]

Specificities

Pop out cakes must be large enough to contain a woman in a squatting position, but not too high in order to allow her to gracefully get out of the cake. Sophisticated cakes can even include a little seat inside, so that the girl is more comfortable in case she has to remain in the cake for a long time before her popping out.[16]

There are many variants in shapes, sizes and heights. For a more impressive visual effect, some pop out cakes are so tall that the girl can't get out of the cake by herself; in these cases, only the upper part of her body is exhibed, and she is meant to remain inside of the cake for some time after her popping out, until the cake is wheeled offstage later during the party.[16]

Until the beginning of the 1970s most pop out cakes were real. Things changed in 1975 when "the AP newspaper published an interview with a baker that worked making them for a small fee of $2,000. They were built around huge cylinders that could house an adult."[13] Nowadays, the construction is generally made of corrugated cardboard,[17] often covered with whipped cream or frosting to make them look real. Similar changes have occured concerning the top part: nowadays it is usually made of thin, almost flexible cardboard, which got bursted into pieces when the woman jumps out, while until the 1960s the lid was customarily a rigid circular plate put on the top of the structure. As an example, during a high budget reception given in the early 1950s, the girl inside of the cake inadvertently threw up the lid vertically, and it fell back on her, smashing the intricate feathered headdress she was wearing.[18]

Famous examples

Often the person jumping out of the cake is a stripper, showgirl, or model during a celebration. For example, Naomi Campbell popped out of a cake in 2004 for her then-boyfriend Usher's 26th birthday party at the Rainbow Room.[19] Comedian Bill Murray jumped out of a cake in celebration of David Letterman's 2015 retirement from Late Show;[20] 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.[20]

In order to make a feminist statement, American singer Katy Perry decided to reverse the "girl poping out of a cake" concept, considered by some as typical of a male dominated society, and instead of jumping out of a cake at the beginning of her show, she dived into a giant artificial cake after her last song at the end of her show held on October 16, 2008 in Guadalajara, Mexico, during the 7th Annual "Los Premios MTV Latin America 2008" Awards.[21] However, the feminist statement did not go according to plan, since she subsequently stepped on a remain of the cake thrown on the stage during her stunt, which made the soles of her ballet slippers covered in icing sugar and caused her to fall several times and left the stage crawling on her hands and knees.[22][23]

During the Miss Universe 2017 beauty pageant, the National Costume of Miss Curaçao, Nashaira Balentien, evoked a pop out cake, with the bottom part looking like a multi-tiered cake covered with authentic sugar, and the upper part of her body popping out on the top.[24] During her performance onstage she had huge difficulties to descend the step of the podium and ended stepping on the bottom of her own costume.[25]

The pop out cake has been used as a metaphor. Sir Fred Hoyle was an advocate of the Steady State theory of the universe and considered theories that described a beginning as pseudoscience.[26] When he 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".[27][28]

In fictional works

Pop out cakes are a common trope, used especially in television and films. Notable examples include: In the movie Some Like It Hot (1959), starring Marilyn Monroe, in which a gangster pops out of a cake with a machine gun, killing almost everyone in the room;[29] and pop outs by Erika Eleniak in the movie Under Siege (1992);[30] Mariah Carey in the music video for the song "Loverboy" (2001);[31] and The Joker in the September 11, 1992 "Joker's Favor" episode of Batman: The Animated Series.[32]

Occasionally a joke of some kind is added, like it being an old lady or a hairy man, or whatever, inside of the cake, in goofy comedies like Family Guy or The Simpsons. Another common joke, notably featured in the Addams Family movie, is that the woman gets inside the cake before it is baked.[33]

In Dalton City, the 49th album of the Western comics series Lucky Luke, published in 1969, there is the running gag of a dancing girl named Belle who is meant to pop out of a huge cake made by Averell Dalton while yelling "Youpee" during a wedding party, but she repeatedly fails to open the lid of the (abnormally hard) cake. At the very end of the album she eventually succeeds in popping out, only to see that the party is long over and everyone has left.[33]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ On his seventh birthday, in 1626, Jeffrey Hudson was presented to the Duchess of Buckingham as a "rarity of nature" and she invited him to join the household. A few months later, the Duke and Duchess entertained King Charles and his young French wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, in London. The climax of the lavish banquet was the presentation of Jeffrey to the Queen, served in a large pie. When the pie was placed in front of the Queen, Jeffrey arose from the crust, 18 inches (45 cm) tall and dressed in a miniature suit of armour. The Queen was delighted and the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham offered Hudson to her as an amusing gift.[2] In the 1943 German film Münchhausen, a state banquet given by Catherine the Great reprises the incident: a giant pie containing a dwarf who plays on a miniature piano.
  2. ^ "The pie bearers advanced solemnly down the center of the room, and after much shuffling of chairs deposited their burden in the center of the table. It was apparently a beautiful pie of mammoth size, but not of the ordinary shape. The crust was brown and flaky, and the aroma was delicious. The head waiter, with a solemnity and importance born of the possession of a stupendous secret, advanced to the table, and with a quick movement cut the crust of the pie with a silver knife. The pie divided as if by magic, and, falling apart, disclosed Susie Johnson, the sixteen-year-old model. A great bevy of canaries, which had been inclosed with her, flew into the room and perched on the easels, on the pictures, anywhere they could find refuge. Then there was a great shout [...] and the young model was lifted from the table to the floor. She was dressed in filmy black gauze. [...] The pie was examined with due care, and it was found to be in reality a sphere of galvanized iron covered with a crust of pastry." (1895 wire story)[7][8]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Robinson, Kelly (7 July 2015). "How Did The Practice of Women Jumping Out Of Giant Cakes Start?". Today I Found Out. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Lloyd, John; Mitchison, John. The QI Book of the Dead. Bloomsbury, London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24491-1.
  3. ^ Page, Nick (27 August 2002). Lord Minimus: The Extraordinary Life of Britain's Smallest Man. London, New York: Harper Collins, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-3122-9161-2. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  4. ^ Archbold, William Arthur Jobson. "Hudson, Jeffery" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Volume 28.
  5. ^ a b Postlewait, Thomas; Graves, Nadine George, Ed. (2015). 'Court Wonder': The Performances of the 'Queen's Dwarf' in the Reign of Charles I. Oxford University Press. p. 31. ISBN 9780199917495. Retrieved 15 June 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "History of Women Jumping Out of Cakes". INDUSTRY / POP CULTURE. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. ^ "An Artist's Model in a Big Pie". San Francisco Chronicle. Vol. LXII, no. 91. 14 October 1895. p. 1.
  8. ^ a b "Missing From Home and Friends is Susie Johnson, an Artist's Model, Who Posed for the "Altogether" in Gotham". Cincinnati Enquirer. 14 October 1895. p. 5.
  9. ^ "An artist's model in a big pie". San Francisco Chronicle. 14 October 1895. p. 1. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  10. ^ Burns, Sarah (27 November 1996). Inventing the Modern Artist: Art and Culture in Gilded Age America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 86–88. ISBN 0300078595.
  11. ^ "Big Times and Big Names at the Moulin Rouge". Paris City Vision. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  12. ^ "DE JOUR EN JOUR (article in French)". Anton Fokker. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. ^ a b "The History of Women popping out of Adult Cakes". Jeremy Glass. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  14. ^ "The industry's first official and finest commercially produced pop out cake". 2 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Groom's Playbook". Groomstand. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  16. ^ a b Wade, Maren (23 July 2014). "[Confessions of a Showgirl] The Truth About Being The Girl Inside The Cake". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Giant Cake Diy". Oh Happy Day. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  18. ^ Young, William; Young, Nancy. The 1950s (American Popular Culture Through History). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313361609.
  19. ^ "Naomi Campbell Surprises Boyfriend Usher". People. 5 October 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  20. ^ a b Venable, Nick (20 May 2015). "Watch Bill Murray Jump Out of a Cake for David Letterman". TIME. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  21. ^ "Katy Perry takes a spectacular tumble after jumping INTO an MTV Awards cake". Daily Mail. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Katy Perry's cake catastrophe at MTV Latin American Awards". The Times. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Katy Perry falls in cake, then slips". 23 February 2013 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ "Miss Curaçao National Costume". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  25. ^ "TRIPS, FAILS & MALFUNCTIONS during Miss Universe 2017 National Costumes". Annabella Winsteald. 29 June 2019 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ Arnheim, Michael (7 October 2015). The God Book. Andrews UK Limited. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-1-84540-883-1.
  27. ^ Eisen, Arri; Laderman, Gary; Schick, Theodore. Jr. (4 March 2015). God and the Big Bang. Hoboken: Routledge, Taylor and Francis. pp. 370–. ISBN 978-1-317-46013-8. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  28. ^ Holt, Jim (12 February 1998). "Big-Bang Theology: God makes a cosmological comeback". Slate. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  29. ^ "women jumping out of cakes". ripleys.com.
  30. ^ Bushell, Garry (6 April 2014). "The Top 40 Ultimate Action Movies: Arnold Schwarzenegger ups the beef stakes". Daily Star. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  31. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (1 February 2002). "Mariah Mania: Resolving the Kitsch Factor". Slant. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  32. ^ "DC Comics Encyclopedia". p. 732.
  33. ^ a b "Jumping Out of a Cake". allthetropes. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
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