Bananas: An American History

Before 1880 most Americans had never seen a banana. By 1910 bananas were so common that streets were littered with their peels. Today, Americans eat on average nearly 75 per year. More than a staple of the American diet, bananas have also gained a secure place in the nation’s culture and folklore. In this wide-ranging history of the most popular and least expensive fruit in the United States, the author shows how developments in international trade and transportation enabled banana shipments from the Caribbean to reach even the most remote North American towns. She describes how public health campaigns and marketing innovations enticed Americans to eat more and more of the fruit that came in its own germ-free packaging. She uses bananas to illustrate changes in diet and etiquette, shows how bananas symbolized the supposed danger or romance of the tropics, and visits the International Banana Festival in Fulton, Kentucky, which in its heyday touted banana consumption as a weapon against Communism - and featured a one-ton banana pudding.