I worked in a bakery for over 15 years and one thing I noticed about our cakes is that the cakes that were on display, not refrigerated, lost moisture and became dry rather quickly.  Sometimes within a matter of a couple of days.   However, the cakes that were refrigerated or partially frozen, were extremely moist.   When customers would inquire about a fresh moist cake, I would ALWAYS, direct them to the refrigerated or partially frozen cakes.  I did not trust the cakes on display.  I knew the refrigerated cakes would be moist and we would have a satisfied customer.  As a cake decorator, we would always place ordered cakes inside of a freezer proof-container inside of the freezer immediately after decorating the cakes to insure a moist fresh tasting cake.

Was the unrefrigerated cake case lighted?? maybe?

I mean I always freeze my undecorated cakes and keep them chilled after they are decorated. So I was just curious about the light.

Yes and No!  We had two cake cases.  One in which all three levels were lit.  The other case did not have a light in it for some reason.  All cakes were contained in individual cake domes, in which they were protected from the killer of moisture, "air".  

Interesting. Baking can have so many polar opposite details--makes yah crazy sometimes.

Yeah it does, but hey! it's what I do and I love it!  SOMETIMES

ABut how come when I refrigerate my cakes they get so so hard and seem to get dry

AI never refrigerate..it drys out cakes so fast. freeze or seal at room temp for moisture.

AIs there a truck to moisten a cake after its been baked?

I think a lot of this has to do with the recipe.  Something like a cake mix cake or a cake made with oil will maintain its soft, moist texture after it's been refrigerated.  However, a cake made with butter will get hard and will require coming down to room temperature before being consumed.  The hard, mealy texture of a refrigerated butter-based cake which one perceives as dry might actually just be because the fat in the cake is still solid from being cold.  You have to think about what happens when you refrigerate butter, and also think about how vegetable oil is still liquid even after being refrigerated.

There are a lot of really good scratch recipes which don't require a simple syrup, but if you want to use one to boost the flavor and moisture you certainly can.  Don't expect a simple syrup to fix a dry cake, though.
 

A@justalittlesugar, deres a good trick to maintain cake moisture after its been baked. I've been doin this for months now and its perfect. Bring equal portions of sugar and water to the boil in a saucepan, add some alcohol and flavouring. This gives u a syrup. Pour over d alredy cooled baked cake. And den use d remainin syrup to brush(with a pastry brush) over all d surfaces of d cake. Apart from keepin ur cake moist for days, it makes your cake more yummy than ever. And also if you are not keeping it in the refrigerator, keep ur cake away from air. For cakes that can last a few days, Keep in an airtight container. I wrap it tight wit a nylon, before storin

AHey Annie are there any from scratch recipes that u can give me links too. Am still in search for my go to recipe for all base cakes yellow/white and chocolate :)

Look up Warren Brown's yellow cake and also Buddy's vanilla cake (with custard).  I have never tried it, but a lot of people have success with FromScratch's vanilla cake recipe.  For chocolate, the Hershey's recipe and also the Double Chocolate Layer cake on Epicurious is awesome.  The Epicurious one is more dense, so if you want light and fluffy go with Hershey's.

I've found a good tip to keep your scratch cakes moist. Put your cake in an airtight container and place a slice of bread inside with it. It works,I tried it the other day as I had to make a birthday cake short notice,so no time to freeze it. I don't know the science behind it, but it works.