@Dutchess_III It sounds like they must have had plenty of tomatoes? Maybe it was a way to use tomatoes when too many were ripening too fast. I usually cook them when that’s going to happen.
Some recipes used tomato soup for the cake, which maybe was something cheap that a lot of people had in their pantry, I don’t know.
I was thinking what do the tomatoes replace in the cake? Probably some liquid and maybe some oil. I guess the acid helps it rise if combined with baking soda. I use apple sauce like that and I cut the amount of sugar a little too.