The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.

The joke hinges on comic exaggeration: fruitcake is framed not merely as unpopular but as a single indestructible object endlessly passed along. Carson’s humor targets the social ritual of obligatory gift-giving—where the appearance of generosity can matter more than the gift’s desirability. By implying perpetual circulation, the line also satirizes re-gifting and the way certain traditions persist through inertia. The “only one fruitcake” premise turns a familiar seasonal complaint into a neat, memorable absurdity, capturing how shared cultural dislikes become bonding material in holiday conversation.

1) “There’s only one fruitcake in the world, and people keep sending it to each other.”
2) “The worst gift is a fruitcake—there’s only one in the whole world and people keep passing it around.”
3) “The worst gift you can get is a fruitcake. There’s only one fruitcake in the world, and people keep giving it to each other.”