The Washington Banana Museum
.... an on-line museum (see below for public viewing location) ....
Take a virtual tour and feel free to email with any questions or if you'd like a picture of a certain item. Be sure to sign the guestbook at the end.
BANANA FACTOIDS:
An average American eats 26 pounds of bananas every year - that's about 150 bananas.
Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the early years (1892-1920s) were given bananas to eat. Many had never seen them and didn't know how to eat them - some ate the whole thing, peel and all.
Bananas were introduced to the American public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, the same expo that introduced Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.
The Washington Banana Museum curator is Ann Mitchell Lovell. Ann has assembled close to 4,000 items, a melange of artifacts, folk art and other cultural oddities devoted to the world's perfect fruit. Assembled by a longtime scholar of banana consciousness, it features a compendium of whimsical and serious representations of the #1-selling fruit in the United States.
Even as a child, Ann knew her calling. Her parents even called her Anna Banana! But it was not until a trip to Hawaii in 1980, that Ann began this quest to assemble the greatest collection of banana artifacts. "A friend and I found a bar there called Anna's Bannanas [that's right, it's misspelled], and I bought a T-shirt with its logo." Over time, she found other items that made their way into her home. "I started finding banana things and saving them. Friends began noticing and would also seek out banana stuff. Though I never really intended to collect bananas, the collection just came in a bunch!"
Bananas, bananas, who's got the bananas? YOU can help me get the bananas! C'mon, cough up the green and help me get some mellow yellow. Today, instead of getting an extra latte, make a donation to my future banana artifacts fund. You will see them posted here. Thank you so much!
Some of the items you see here are now being displayed at
Bananas Antiques
in beautiful downtown Auburn, Washington at 120 E. Main St. (98002) 253-804-8041 - open Tuesday-Thursday 10:00am-1:00pm, Friday 10:00am-3:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm, and other times by chance. View selections from the Washington Banana Museum, a premiere collection of memorabilia depicting our favorite fruit.
The newest addition to the Museum - a fabulous banana fish face jug by the charming and talented Maine artist Steve Weslow.
A fine example of the marketing and display of bananas in a Rochester, New Hampshire general store, c1899. photo courtesy of Gail Varney
Lawrence Wilbur poster created for the United Fruit Company, ca. 1930s. He had created several others for them during the same time period.
Josephine Baker art deco bakelite, wood and aluminum card holder from the 1920s, and a photo of her wearing the famous banana skirt in the Folies Bergere, Paris 1926.
Banana merchant Nicholas Zeo of Springield, Massachusettes proclaimed on his building, "I am the Banana King." Here, a partial billhead from 1921 and a Zeo-Ripe pinback button.
John J. Campbell Fine Bananas storefront, with a couple of fine bunches
Stork's Fruit Co. roadside stand
Good King Banana - a cloth children's game obtained free by mail from The Fruit Dispatch Company in the 1930s. "Lots of fun for home, school or parties."
Leigh Banana Crate watch fob, ca 1930s. See more information about this company further down the page.
French banana cart, early 1900s.
Banana vendors at Battery Park in New York City, 1920s-1930s.
Kirby & Diefendorf storefront in Canajoharie, NY, with hanging bananas, 1890s.
Another storefont, probably Chicago, 1920s-1930s.
The Banana Keeper, by Product Designer Simone Pallotto for Tupperware. A wonderfully useful product to keep your bananas bruise-free. Thanks so much Simone for sending these all the way from Belgium!
Partial 1920s ad from Inland Printer pairing bananas and lithographic printing, and a United Fruit poster from the same era.
Eat Bananas Token, 1923. Issued by Elders and Fyffes in England for a promotional campaign.
The Frank H. Lester Company was one of over a hundred importers of bananas to the U.S. in the late 1800s. By the time the United Fruit Company was formed in 1899 many of these companies had gone bankrupt. He was doing business as late as 1910, possibly longer. Below is an 1896 plea from Frank himself to potential banana buyers to give the Lester company a chance in supplying the best bananas on the market. Note the dramatic language.
The Leigh Banana Case Company was founded in 1905 by Charles Q. C. Leigh near Ellenton, South Carolina. He patented a wood-veneer slatted crate which was built specifically to fit one banana bunch. Sales of these banana cases started to decline in the 1930s and the company started producing containers for other kinds of fruits and vegetables. The company had 52 assembly plants in the U.S. and annually produced about 5 million containers. The town of Leigh was born when the company built housing for its employees. The Company was closed in 1952 when the Savannah River Plant of the Atomic Energy Commission took over the land. Below is an envelope from the company postmarked 1916 with an illustration of the case and a photo of two crates much like the Leigh Banana Case. The company made tokens for its employees to use in the commissary.
Clark's West India Bananas box from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and Beich's Marshmallow Bananas box from Bloomington, Illinois.
Meloripe Bananas box and lighter. The company was based in New Toronto, Ontario.
Altered art from a Pike Place Market flyer (left) and a partial sign found in Ellensburg over twenty-five years ago
Marx wind-up toys from the mid 1960s
Carved bone banana, origin unknown
Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. (with scarf) posing with the photographer and a 1923 Packard and enjoying the popular fruit of the day. He was born in 1898, a great great grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the shipping & railroad magnate and founder of the family fortune. Cornelius Jr. traveled extensively by car in the 1920s and 1930s and this photograph might have been taken on one such trip. He died in 1974. The other photo (underneath) was taken in 1919 - this time Mr. Floyd Raymond Monaweck with his family eating bananas in front of their touring car. He was a co-founder of Taylor's Produce (later Norman's Produce) in Battlecreek, Michigan.
Milo Winter illustrated this 1927 calendar (left). On the right, a 1912 double-sided 42-inch heavy cardboard sign from United Fruit.
Seattle artist and all-around great person Cindy Small created this mixed-media piece especially for the museum. It takes a special place in the collection. The fortune says "You constantly struggle for self-improvement."
Banana graffiti discovered December 31, 2007, on the Inter-Urban Trail in Auburn, Washington
Poster from the Strand Theatre,(Freehold, New Jersey) probably 1923 and West India bananas poster
"Eat Bananas" - a 24"x36" porecelain enamel sign from Fruit Dispatch Company, probably from the 1920s, and a grocery store price marker of the same era
Banana consumption by Winona College students and others in front of the Beyer home at beautiful Winona Lake, Indiana, c1909. Just out of sight is a large outdoor amphitheater. A huge water carnival was held here in August 1909 and was probably part of the Chatauqua programs or a Bible conference. Grace College would later be founded here. Photograph by Starr of Valparaiso, Indiana. [Many thanks to Mr. Charles Moffett.]
A Chicago theater troupe featuring Bertha West (2nd from right), a relative by marriage, of Betsy Ross, c1900 (photo courtesy of Randall Wells).
Yes, We Have No Bananas from Samoa....
Paperweight from the Bluefields Steamship Company, based in New Orleans, c1900, and some miscellaneous treasures including a 1961 5-franc gold coin from Katanga , Chiobitti Banana Co., Ltd, watch face and another banana watch
Elvepe Bananas chalk display piece (Belgium). A reproduction from the 1980s, originally from the 1930s and Fyffes display piece
from Paris....
Chiquita Banana ride-on toy, c. 1969 and a 1971 photo with a happy girl
Fiberglass banana bass instrument, 4-feet tall. Bought in Brimfield, MA, and a small banana band
Ban the Banana, poster made in 1967, Bedford Fruit & Produce Co. wood sign
Carmen Miranda from "The Gang's All Here" (1943)....
A vintage 1920s-1940s banana shipping box.
From the library...
See the complete bibliography here.
Want to see the museum where these things are on display? Click on one of the thumbnails, sit back with a tasty banana, and wait for them to appear before your eyes.
Entrance
Closer Look 
Mostly Chiquita
"Ban the Banana" 
More Stuff
Kitchen I'm always on the lookout for cool banana items.
If you have any tips or comments please e-mail me: bananamuseum1@hotmail.com Thanks!
Bananas.org International Banana Society - Bananas.org contains many ongoing discussions about bananas, banana care, banana identification, recipies, members from around the world. Photo Gallery, Map, Resources for the banana enthusiast.
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