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Bananas used in a variety of ways Bananas in the Modern Manner, 1930 |
Welcome to the supplemental blog post for Episode 16 - That Old Banana Magic! Banana availability during WWII for Americans was a bit of a roller coaster. When they couldn't get fresh, other alternative products were available to them in the form of powdered, dried, and flaked bananas as well as banana flavoring. Due to American obsession with bananas starting in the 1920s-30s, they came up with all sorts of ways to include this nutritious fruit into their diet whether using it as a fruit, starch, or vegetable.
Enjoy the interesting resources I found during my research!
To check out the Vintage Banana Tuesdays series I did on HISTORY: Preserved click the link HERE:
SONGS:
First up is the classic song "Yes! We Have No Bananas" by Sam Lanin, 1923.
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Sheet music cover for "Yes! We Have No Bananas", 1923 wikimedia commons |
Next, here's a fun one you may not have heard before: "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana" by The Columbians, 1927.
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Banana Cart, NYC, 1902 wikimedia commons |
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Longshoreman transferring bananas New York, New York July 1937 wikimedia commons |
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Shop with Bananas Missouri, 1906 |
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Soda jerker flipping ice cream into malted milkshakes (bananas in background) Corpus Cristi, Texas, 1939 wikimedia commons |
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Bananas...how to serve them 1942 |
Songs/Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wkMZLwPpLE
Yes! We Have No Bananas, 1923
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTTrXAE7OPU
Or if you prefer to hear it from The Muppets…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQ0XUNxJyQ
The Dark History of Bananas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esvycD1O3cM
Chiquita Banana commercial (1940s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDOI24RRAE
United Fruit Company 1940s Banana Production Film (A
somewhat rosy view. Go to time stamp 10:06 to see how the banana plant grows)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPMoMLeJ9nA
1930s Iced Banana Cake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE92QcEENZc
Articles:
https://the1940sexperiment.com/2016/02/28/mock-banana-recipe-no-148/
Going Bananas: United Fruit Ripened in WWII
https://www.houmatoday.com/article/DA/20030720/News/608095395/HC
They Became Banana Boats (U.S. Naval Institute)
https://www.navalhistory.org/2019/03/12/they-became-banana-boats
The Seldom Taught History of the Banana Wars (showing
that things weren’t quite as rosy as newspapers made them out to be) (No
citation of sources, so read with a grain of salt)
https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/the-seldom-taught-history-of-the-banana-wars-416941c7114a
Images:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_banana_cart-LCCN2008678154.jpg
Longshoreman transferring bananas, 1941-42
Shop with bananas, Missouri 1906
Soda jerker flipping ice cream into malted milkshakes,
Texas 1939
Yes! We Have No Bananas sheet music cover
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yes!_We_Have_No_Bananas.png
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