It was brought to my attention this week that many people have no idea what a sugar plum is. In an attempt to combat the global problem of sugar plum ignorance, I hereby declare December to be Sugar Plum Awareness Month.
Q: You’re making this announcement on December 29th? Wouldn’t it make more sense to choose a different month?
A: I chose December because it’s the month in which the sugar plum awareness theme song is heard most frequently. The timing of this announcement is less than ideal, but I think we can make it work — there are still a couple days left this December, and next December should last at least 21 days.
Q: Have you ever seen a sugar plum?
A: No.
Q: Do you know anyone who’s ever seen one?
A: Not to my knowledge, no.
Q: How do you know they exist?
A: Wikipedia has an article about them.
Q: Wikipedia also has an article about Santa Claus. Does that mean he exists?
A: Sugar Plum Awareness Month is a time of discovery, during which we will separate the truth about sugar plums from the myths.
Q: You really should have led with that.
A: Yeah, I know. Too bad I never edit these things.
Q: What do you think will be the high point of Sugar Plum Awareness Month?
A: The highlight will be Sugar Plum Tasting Day, when participants will attempt to taste sugar plums for the first time and then report back on them. This will enable us to resolve the question of whether sugar plums exist and, if they do, to track regional variations. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to organize a tasting day this year, but we expect to have one in 2012.
Q: What exactly is a sugar plum?
A: Wikipedia says it’s a kind of candy made from chopped dried fruit, almonds, honey, and spices.
Q: So a sugar plum doesn’t necessarily contain either sugar or plums?
A: Right.
Q: Have you learned anything else interesting about sugar plums so far?
A: Apparently they grow on trees.
Q: How can I, a member of the public with no specialized training, help to make Sugar Plum Awareness Month a success?
A: I’m so glad you asked! You can add any sugar-plum-related information or questions you might have to the comments here. You can suggest sugar plum activities. And next year, you can participate in Sugar Plum Tasting Day.
You can find more sugar plum facts (and, eventually, more information about Sugar Plum Awareness Month) on the Sugar Plum Awareness page.
Unlikely Explanations 
Three days of Sugar plums are probably quite enough, but Wine Gum month takes up all of January, and rightfully so. Sugar plums can’t hold a candle to Wine Gums, and if they did, they’d probably get burned. The sugar plums, I mean.
It bothers me that wine gums don’t contain wine.
You can always marinade them in a good port in you wish.
Fact: Sugar plums can be fairies, and they really like to dance.
That’s going to make eating them really awkward.
Hahaha! This was one of the funniest things I’ve read all day! Love it!!
I just wish I’d spent a couple more days writing it, so you could have said “all year”.
My mother used to call me Sugar Plum, and she usually knew what she was talking about. I’m available for tasting most evenings.
I’ll add you to the “sugar plum resources” list.
Phew, now I don’t need to go into the new year in ignorance! Well, at least not about sugar plums . . .
Are you planning an event for next year? Will there be notifications? Will you provide the sugar plums? Will there be chocolate?
I was going to rent out my city’s convention center, but it turned out to be a little outside my price range, so I think this will have to be more of a distributed event. You’ll have to provide your own sugar plums, and I strongly suggest you have some emergency chocolate on hand in case you discover you don’t like them.
On Halloween I’m going to dress up as a sugar plum fairy…but a cute one…not a dried fruit one. Can that be my contribution?
It depends. Will you take pictures? Can we use one as the official Sugar Plum Awareness Month logo?
I did a Google image search for sugar plum. It wasn’t helpful at all. They could be ANYTHING!
You know that children’s book where a duck goes around and asks everyone “are you my mother?” I’m thinking about a variation where a child points to various objects and asks “is this a sugar plum?”
Isn’t there a John Lennon connection with the words “sugar plum fairy”? He uses them to count in a song instead of saying “one, two, three”
You’re right! I’d never heard that version. You get many bonus points for an actual true fact.
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It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without — wait, are you getting a sense of deja vu?