1 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: We have no bananas. That's Louis Prima singing the novelty 2 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: song Yes we have No Bananas in nine. The song 3 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: was actually written in a century ago and was so 4 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: popular a million copies of its sheet music sold in 5 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: a matter of months. As Variety wrote, its success is unexplainable, 6 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: although the title as a catch line may be a 7 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: cause we have no bananas today. That title came from 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: a phrase supposedly uttered by a Greek grocer at a 9 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: Long Island fruit stand. Some believe the song was inspired 10 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: by an actual banana shortage. Regardless, the song was such 11 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: a craze that demand for the fruit skyrocketed, causing a 12 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: well runs on bananas and now. It might surprise you 13 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 1: that the banana that everyone was going eight four at 14 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: the time was not the banana you find at your 15 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: local grocery store today. This was an entirely different variety 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,479 Speaker 1: of banana, one that dominated the US market for decades 17 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. 18 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: Its name the grow Michell French for big Mike. For many, 19 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: this was the only banana they would ever know, and 20 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: it was delicious, has a nicer taste and more banana 21 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: eat taste. It is better than the banana we eat now. 22 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: When the grow Michelle had to be replaced, banana companies 23 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: weren't sure the new banana, the one we eat today, 24 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: which is known as the Caven dish, would even be accepted. 25 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: When the switch had to happen, they were like, no 26 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: housewife is going to buy these because they just don't 27 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: taste as good. So what happened to this loved banana 28 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: We'll explain, and along the way take a look back 29 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: at some other forgotten foods, and I'll chat with Broadway 30 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: legend Andre de Shields about his special banana memories. And 31 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: that's what you want for it to be. You wanted 32 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: to change your default consciousness. Otherwise why eat it? And 33 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: yes there will be singing. We've strink beans and onions 34 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: and big juicy lemon and all sorts of fruit, and 35 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: say from CBS Sunday morning, and I heart I'm Morocca. 36 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: And this is mobituaries, this moment, the groomy shell death 37 00:02:48,840 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: of a banana. Ah, the sound of mourning. Actually it's 38 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: this sound that means morning to me, The dulcet tones 39 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: of frozen bananas getting ground up. That's pretty much the 40 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: only way I consume bananas these days in a blender 41 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: with some other ingredients. To me, a banana is simply 42 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: a potassium delivery system, too boring to eat on its own, 43 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: which is why I was fascinated to learn that this 44 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,560 Speaker 1: wasn't always the case. That my grandparents enjoyed much better bananas. 45 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: So how did we get here to these blah banas. 46 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: I never intended to be sort of the world expert 47 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: on any particular topic, let alone bananas, but I have 48 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: come to um not just accepted, but embrace it. That's 49 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: Dan Capell, the author of Banana, The Fate of the 50 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: Fruit that Changed the World. He's researched and traveled the world, 51 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: learning everything there is to know about bananas. Bananas were 52 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: the very first cultivated fruit, and so we're talking ten 53 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: thousand or more years that bananas have been part of 54 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: the human diet and the human story. Actually, but in 55 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: terms of bananas being available to people who don't live 56 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: in places where bananas can grow, um, that's less than 57 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: a hundred fifty years. The earliest bananas grew in the 58 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: wild in Southeast Asia and then spread to other parts 59 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,799 Speaker 1: of the world. Spanish and Portuguese explorers and missionaries brought 60 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: bananas to the New World in the fifteen hundreds, where 61 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: the fruit would flourish in the Caribbean and Central America. 62 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: The banana made its splashy US debut at the Centennial 63 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: Exhibition in Philadelphia in eighteen seventy six. The event marking 64 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence introduced it's 65 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: nearly ten mill the visitors to all sorts of innovations. 66 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: Heinz Ketchup, a steam powered monorail, a suitcase that turned 67 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: into a bathtub really, and Alexander Graham Bell's invention of 68 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: a little something called the telephone, which is funny because 69 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: as a child, I'm sure I tried to talk into 70 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: a banana. But the banana plant in the exhibitions Horticultural 71 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: Hall was reportedly such a sensation that a guard had 72 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: to be put on lookout to prevent visitors from trying 73 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: to grab a souvenir. Had people seen pictures of it 74 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: before or did it just come as this surprise, this 75 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: thing from almost like outer space. I think that exhibition 76 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: probably made the banana more real to people. These exhibitions 77 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: captured people's imaginations especially the imaginations of some entrepreneurs who 78 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: then started looking at ways to bring bananas to the US. 79 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: Those entrepreneurs began scouting tropical regions where bananas flourished, and 80 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: while there were a number of rieties to choose from, 81 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: sellers seized on the gromy shell banana, first grown on 82 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: the Caribbean island of Martinique in the eighteen thirties. That 83 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: in Jamaica, the groomy shell had spread throughout the Caribbean 84 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: and Central America, and it became top banana in the 85 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: US largely for one reason. The most important thing is 86 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: that it's going to survive shipping. If dozens of us shipping, 87 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: nothing else matters. And the grower shell survives shipping better 88 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: than any other banana because of its tough skin and 89 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: and it's slow ripening characteristics. And so that was the 90 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: one that they were going to make their money on. 91 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: Another benefit, every banana in the bunch or finger in 92 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: the hand, if we're using proper terminology here, was exactly 93 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: the same. Okay, quick banana biology lesson. You've probably noticed 94 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: that the bananas you eat don't have seeds, those little 95 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 1: black circles you might see. Our vestigial seeds remnants of 96 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: an early species of banana. No seeds means bananas reproduce 97 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: by a transplanting a piece of one plant, known as 98 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: a sucker, to start growing another. They're basically clones. This 99 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: means that most every banana we eat is genetically identical, 100 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: tasting exactly the same, but also equally vulnerable. With every 101 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: major company growing and selling the groomy shell and only 102 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: the grow michell, the banana industry established what's called a monoculture, 103 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: growing only one variety of a single crop. It would 104 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: prove to be a dangerous gambit. After settling on the 105 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: growny shell, the entrepreneurs needed to figure out how to 106 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: bring these bananas in mass quantities to the United States. 107 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: One of the first major companies to figure this out 108 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: was the United Fruit, which would later become Chiquita. The 109 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: company devised and innovative solution refrigerated shipping. This is not 110 00:07:55,640 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: in the days of ubiquitous refrigeration. These banana ships had 111 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: ice in them, tons and tons of ice that were 112 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: put in these colds, and there were these elaborate ventilation 113 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: systems into the cargo holes that would direct the cold 114 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: towards them. The ships were painted white to keep them cool. 115 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: Those refrigerated ships, each of which could carry up to 116 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: a half million bananas, would become known as the Great 117 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:24,239 Speaker 1: White Fleet, eventually the largest private navy in the world. 118 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: But there were still a few hurdles for the banana business, 119 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: namely getting consumers to accept the product. For many of 120 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: the prim and proper women of the Victorian era, eating 121 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: a banana was simply too risque given the fruits suggestive shape. 122 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: Many chose to slice or cut up their bananas and 123 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: hide them in foil. To dispel the notion that banana 124 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: eating was shameful, postcards were distributed showing perfectly respectable ladies 125 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: delicately consuming the fruit out in the open. I have 126 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: a few of them, of the very proper Victorian ladies 127 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: holding bananas eating bananas. Um, they're weird. How are they? 128 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: How are they holding them? That's not suggestive. They're holding 129 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: them like they're at picnics, and you know they're eating 130 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,679 Speaker 1: them peeled with the peel hanging down on their hands 131 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: instead of cut up. Um, and they're very proper. As 132 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: inhibitions faded, that consumer had to be educated. Then they 133 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: had to be seduced, because they had. I mean, knowing 134 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: about it isn't enough. You have to want it, And 135 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: then they had to be taught how to eat them 136 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: and keep them. The banana was so foreign to so many, 137 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: including immigrants at Ellis Island who were often given a 138 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: banana as their first taste of America, that newspapers had 139 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: to explain how to let them ripen and how to 140 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: peel them. People also needed to be sold on the 141 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: health benefits. United Fruit started using innovative tactics like getting 142 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: doctors to endorse bananas as a great source of nutrition 143 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: for babies, and after partnering up with another new food 144 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: on the market, cornfl as, the banana companies helped revolutionize 145 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: the consumer experience. They came up with what was basically 146 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: the first supermarket coupon, and the banana companies basically say 147 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna offer a deal. If you buy milk, corn 148 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: flakes and bananas, you'll get a refund or a coupon 149 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: for the milk for free. Really smart because the banana 150 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: companies didn't pay for it. They convinced the milk companies 151 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: to pay for it. But it was the banana company's idea. 152 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: It all worked. Bananas went mainstream no longer considered an 153 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: exotic luxury item. Bananas were everywhere, and they were cheap, 154 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: becoming known as the poor man's fruit. With ubiquity came 155 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: good and bad. The good clever inventions like the banana split, 156 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: just don't ask where it originated. Several towns take credit. 157 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,439 Speaker 1: And the bad that heskey banana appeal, which was becoming 158 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,199 Speaker 1: a hazard on city streets. A New York Times article 159 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: from a TV before notes that a wealthy merchant age 160 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: seventy five slipped on a banana peel while coming home 161 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: from church and broke his leg. Quote he is not 162 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: expected to recover. The creation of the New York City 163 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:16,319 Speaker 1: Sanitation Department was absolutely a reaction to the ubiquity of 164 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,839 Speaker 1: banana peals, and these uniform sanitation men were sent through 165 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: the city to help solve this hazard. The police were 166 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,119 Speaker 1: also on the case. In eighteen nineties six, Theodore Roosevelt, 167 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: then commissioner of the New York City Police Department, warned 168 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 1: his men of banana peals and their quote tendency to 169 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: toss people into the air and bring them down with 170 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: terrific force on the hard pavement. But rather than slip 171 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: in popularity, bananas continued on their way to becoming the 172 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: dominant fruit in America. In the early nineteen hundreds, consumption 173 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: nearly tripled from fifteen million bunches sold to over forty million, 174 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: out selling apples and oranges, and by the nineteen twenties, 175 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: bananas were firmly entrenched in popular culture and even in language. 176 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: The flapper slang term banana oil translated to nonsense when 177 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: he tells you, I annoy you that banana oil, and 178 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: all die for you that banana on. Just a few 179 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: years later, George and Ira Gershwin would have a hit 180 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: with but not for Me, using bananas to mean just 181 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: playing crazy. I never water here from any cheerful Pollyanna, 182 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: who tells face supplies amazing, it's a banana silent. Film 183 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,199 Speaker 1: stars like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin turned that dastardly 184 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: banana peal into a classic comedy gag, and Yes we 185 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: have No Bananas even got a sequel song sung here 186 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: by an exasperated Eddie. Can't hey, hey, no, can take 187 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: them away? Bananas, and specifically gromy shell bananas. We're here 188 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: to stay, or so people thought, coming up a gromy 189 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: shehall taste test with Broadway superstar Andre to Shields. But first, 190 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: a mobituary tribute to another popular food of the past. 191 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: It's been called America's forgotten fruit. I'm talking, of course, 192 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: about the paw paw. Large, oblong and misshapen on the outside, 193 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 1: a fruit that only a mother could love. With a 194 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: custardy flesh and nickel sized seeds on the inside, the 195 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: papa tastes like a cross between a mango and a banana. 196 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: Found in at least twenty six states, the paw paw 197 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: was a staple of many of American diets, a favorite 198 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,719 Speaker 1: dessert of George Washington, served chilled apparently, and eaten by 199 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: Lewis and Clark and their men on their expedition. The 200 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: fruit was even the subject of a song sung here 201 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: by Burl Lives Whero. Where is dear little Susie Whero? 202 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: Where is dear little Susie Whero? Where is dear little Susie? 203 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: We're down under the ball? So why did the papa 204 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 1: go bye bye? Much of it has to do with 205 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: the fact that it ripens quickly and doesn't ship well, 206 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: so you're not going to find it at the modern 207 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: day supermarket. You have to forage for it, and really 208 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: who has the time? Also, it's a little messied beat. 209 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: New York Times article notes a woman could not eat 210 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: a pawpaw in front of her lover because quote, the 211 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: site is disgusting to the point of utter disillusion. Still, 212 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: papas are out there. You just need to find them. 213 00:14:54,640 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: Perhaps they're ripe for a comeback. So you want that 214 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: to meet the wizard. That's the legendary Andre to Shields 215 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: playing the Wizard in the Broadway musical The Whiz. Andre 216 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: has been electrifying audiences for decades. You either got the 217 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: hell on, Hey, that's Tom Hain't nonibo wad down Town 218 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: went down under the ground and finally won his first 219 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: Tony Award for Hades Town in at age seventy three, Baltimore, Maryland. 220 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 1: Are you in the house? I am making good on 221 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: my promise that I would come to New York and 222 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: become someone you'd be proud to call your native son 223 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: or Banana is a luxury growing up. I grew up 224 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: in a food desert. There was hardly anything that was 225 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: considered produce, and even if it were, it wouldn't have 226 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: been fresh. You look at it and you think, oh, 227 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: I shouldn't eat this, but that's the banana that we 228 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: we're able to buy in our neighborhood. But as he 229 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: ventured out in the world, Andre became a banana expert 230 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: of sorts. Banana is more easily peeled if you do 231 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: it from its black tip as opposed to the green stem. 232 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: So pull off the black tip and eat it. I've 233 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: never done that. Then peel the banana. You're not wasting 234 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: any part of this. But I told you it was 235 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: serendipitous when you asked Andrea d Ship to come on 236 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: your podcast and talk about the banana Andre de peals. 237 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: Back in the nineteen sixties, he even participated in one 238 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: of the more trippy banana pads. Eat the banana, throw 239 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: the peels into an oven. Once they're baked, the fiber 240 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: on the inside becomes a lovely substitute for marijuana. Are 241 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: you serious, I'm serious. So you you're smoking banana peals. Yeah, 242 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: not the peel, but the fiber on the inside. Now, 243 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,199 Speaker 1: Andrea wasn't the only one doing this. A number of 244 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: newspapers and magazines at the time shared stories on the 245 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: popular trend, as well as recipes. A smoke to banana 246 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: peel recipe was featured in the Notorious Anarchist cookbook, and 247 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: many people also believed that the seven hit song Mellow 248 00:17:51,960 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: Yellow was about smoking banana peels netana grace. In fact, 249 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: the song wasn't about that. What's more, researchers and the 250 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: FDA would investigate and determine that banana peels had no 251 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:17,360 Speaker 1: hallucinogenic properties. But it made for some good stories and 252 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: probably some fun parties. Regardless. Andre is someone who knows 253 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: a good banana, and with so many banana variety has 254 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,880 Speaker 1: grown around the world, he's tasted more than a few 255 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,879 Speaker 1: in his travels. He told me about a transformative experience 256 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: he had while touring the United Arab Emirates in It 257 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: was a banana that kicked but knocked me out. It 258 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: was intoxicating, and that's what you want fruit to be. 259 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:52,439 Speaker 1: You wanted to change your default consciousness. Otherwise why eat it? 260 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,880 Speaker 1: And when I ate it, it tasted like a solid 261 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: version of a cream sickle. Okay, like candy almost ice cream, 262 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: a dessert, a dessert dessert exactly. It made me feel 263 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,360 Speaker 1: like I needed to repent. It was a guilty pleasure. 264 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,199 Speaker 1: It was a guilty pleasure, and you know, to have 265 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: a banana. Do that to you is so surprising. We 266 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: have become accustomed to a bland, utilitarian banana exactly. The 267 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: banana that Andre eight in the UAE might well have 268 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,440 Speaker 1: been a variety similar to the blue java or ice 269 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: cream banana grown in Asia, Australia and Hawaii, said to 270 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: have a creamy texture like vanilla ice cream or custard. 271 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: M m. You see, there are other more exotic varieties 272 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: of bananas out there. In fact, there are still gromy 273 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: shell bananas being grown on small lot farms. We acquired 274 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: some from a specialty grower in Miami for a taste 275 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: test on this very podcast with Andre to Shields. Would 276 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: he find it as exciting as legend has it. For 277 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 1: the sake of comparison, we started with today's banana of 278 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: the Cavendish. This is the one you buy at your 279 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: local supermarket, and exciting it is not. Okay, so we're 280 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: going to take a bite. I'm ready when you are. 281 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: This is your traditional taste of a banana that you 282 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: would slice on to your cereal. There's nothing intense about 283 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: this flavor. If this banana were a personality, what would 284 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:50,360 Speaker 1: that personality be? The one we just tasted the BBC News, 285 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: the BBC News banana, which is dependable or reliable, But 286 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: but what devoid of emotion? Right? No razzled asks? And 287 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: then it was time time to taste the groomy shell. No, 288 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: here we go, Okay, it's time, it's time. Bla, what 289 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:24,879 Speaker 1: do you think? It's a richer taste. It tastes definitely 290 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 1: like it's come from the earth. This banana, the gro michell, 291 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: had a little more maturity to it. It was slightly sexier. 292 00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:45,879 Speaker 1: I wanted to chew it more slowly. I wanted to 293 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: roll it around in my mouth. It had a few 294 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 1: more tones, earthier, more mature, sexier. Who wouldn't want a 295 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: gromy shell. People today don't know that they have settled 296 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: for a lesser banana today. I think people do understand that. 297 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: But in terms of present day America, that's the deal. 298 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: You want to take it home. We want to leave 299 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: it on the counter for a few days. We want 300 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: to forget about it and then we'll go back. And 301 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: we wanted to look exactly like it was when we 302 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: bought it, or we're not going to eat it. Andre 303 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: To Shields is a performer par excellence. He can sing, 304 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,480 Speaker 1: he can dance, he can wax poetic about bananas. So 305 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,359 Speaker 1: at the end of our conversation, I had one final request. 306 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,880 Speaker 1: I was praying that Tony Emmy and Grammy Award winning 307 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: Andrea Shields would indulge my desire to sing, yes we 308 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: have no bananas, a short version of it, indulging, Oh, 309 00:22:52,200 --> 00:23:00,880 Speaker 1: yes we have no bananas. We have no bananas. Today 310 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 1: we've strink beans and onions and big juicy lemon and 311 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: all sorts of fruit, and say we have an old 312 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: fashion tomacro how long island potato? But yes, we have 313 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: no bananas. We have no bananas. We've got no bananas. 314 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 1: We have no bananas. To dat common hats off the 315 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,880 Speaker 1: Peggy Lee. Why Peggy Lee? If that's all there is, 316 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 1: just keep dancing up. Next the Demise of the Groomy Shell. 317 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: But first another mobituary tribute toy Forgotten Food. It was 318 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: nine and NASA was preparing to and the first man 319 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,719 Speaker 1: to the Moon. Of course, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and 320 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,719 Speaker 1: Michael Collins would have to eat when they were in space. 321 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: They couldn't just drink tang, So NASA teamed up with 322 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,199 Speaker 1: Pillsbury to create some innovative products, one of which was 323 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,240 Speaker 1: a rod shaped food designed for the astronauts to easily 324 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,879 Speaker 1: consume in their space suits. Enter the space food stick. 325 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 1: With the American public going space crazy, Pillsbury decided to 326 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: create a commercial version. Today, the United States has engaged 327 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,320 Speaker 1: in a gigantic effort to send men to the Moon. 328 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: For this effort, Pillsbury has developed many special foods. Here 329 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: is the first one to be made available to the public. 330 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,160 Speaker 1: Marketed as a new idea in snack foods, Space food 331 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:49,679 Speaker 1: Sticks came wrapped in shiny foil to give that space 332 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: age appearance, and perhaps to jazz up the fact that 333 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: the product kind of looked like a wooden dowl. The 334 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 1: sticks came in flavors like chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter. 335 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,119 Speaker 1: Ads proclaimed that the sticks were only about forty four calories, 336 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,120 Speaker 1: but they nourish like a major meal. But just two 337 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: years after space food Sticks hit the market, the novelty 338 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: had worn off. Pillsbury decided to remove the word space 339 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: from the name, and consumers seemed even less interested in 340 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:23,479 Speaker 1: buying food sticks. The product would eventually be discontinued. Space 341 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: food Sticks are long gone, but are now hailed as 342 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: a forerunner to today's energy bars. That's one small step 343 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: for man, one giant leap for snack food at your 344 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: grosses next to the instant breakfast section, space food sticks 345 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: the energy snack from US Aerospace Research and Pillsbury. That's 346 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: Harry Belafonte singing Dao, also known as the Banana boats 347 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: song Mr Dali Mandali Di Banan. The tune was adapted 348 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: from a Jamaican folk song believed to be sung by 349 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: doc workers in the early nineteen hundreds as they worked 350 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:28,679 Speaker 1: overnight to pack bananas onto ships seven foot. While the 351 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: beloved song is fun to sing, it's ultimately about a 352 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,439 Speaker 1: serious struggle, one that many people were facing as bananas 353 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: became big business. The business model of bananas is to 354 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: sell them for half the price of apples and oranges. 355 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,120 Speaker 1: That's banana author Dan Capell again. How do they do it? 356 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 1: They do it by limiting the costs that they had 357 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: control over, and those two costs were land and labor. 358 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,680 Speaker 1: And to get land, they would come up with these 359 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: deals with Basically, the banana entrepreneurs owned all this land, 360 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:06,600 Speaker 1: and then to get labor, they exploited people. There's no 361 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: other way to put it. By the beginning of the 362 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:13,919 Speaker 1: twentieth century, the United Fruit Company owned land, employed thousands, 363 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 1: and controlled railroads and utilities throughout much of Latin America 364 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: and the Caribbean. The rapid acquisition of geographical and political 365 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: control led to the company's nickname El Polpo the octopus. 366 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 1: Banana workers became ponds of United Fruit and its competitor, 367 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: Standard Fruit, later known as Dole. The companies seemed to 368 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: stop at nothing to get bananas harvested and shipped to 369 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 1: the United States. The Central American nations that produced bananas 370 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: for United Fruit and others became known as banana republics. Yes, 371 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:51,880 Speaker 1: I know you might be thinking of that place where 372 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,679 Speaker 1: you buy khakis, but the origin of the term is 373 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,919 Speaker 1: far darker. Coined by author oh Henry, it came to 374 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: mean governments centrally controlled by these banana companies, to the 375 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: detriment of the people who actually lived there. They would 376 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,440 Speaker 1: install friendly governments. The workers had no rights. It was 377 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: tragic and horrible. And this is the paradox of the banana. 378 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 1: The fruit that we love so much comes with a very, 379 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: very bloody cost that is mostly unknown and hidden to 380 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: the average consumer. Then and now strikes riots and demands 381 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: for better wages became common, but they were tamped down, 382 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: often violently. In the Colombian military put an end to 383 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,959 Speaker 1: a strike in the town of Sienaga by opening fire 384 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: on demonstrating United Fruit banana workers in what became known 385 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: as the Banana Massacre, an event that would later be 386 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 1: incorporated into the Gabrielle Garcia Marquez novel One Hundred Years 387 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,479 Speaker 1: of Solitude. The death toll by some instruments was as 388 00:28:54,560 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: high as two thousand. Another dramatic intervention happened several decades later, 389 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty four and the form of a coup 390 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: in Guatemala to oust the democratically elected president Hakabo R Ben's. 391 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,600 Speaker 1: He has campaigned on banana workers rights. He's been very careful. 392 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: He has not asked for a lot. He's asked for 393 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: some basic stuff, increases in pay. He's asked for some 394 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: land back. But the banana companies can't abide this. And 395 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: at this point in nine the banana companies are deeply, 396 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: deeply involved in the United States government, so they have 397 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: a lot of pole. At the time, United Fruit controlled 398 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: fort of Guatemala's land, so our Ben's plans for a 399 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: grarian reform were unacceptable. To the company. United Fruit launched 400 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: a public relations campaign to convince the US government and 401 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: the public that our Ben's was a communist and that 402 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: Guatemala was a Soviet satellite state in the making, that 403 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: commissioned so called studies on the situation, lobbied newspapers to 404 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: convey their preferred narrative, and eventually put out a short 405 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: film entitled why the Kremlin hates Bananas and Therefore the 406 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: agents of international Communism have selected the United Fruit Company 407 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: as a prime target of attack. Remember this was the 408 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,239 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties and the height of the Red Scare, and 409 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: while Guatemalan President Urbans did have some Communists in his coalition, 410 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,920 Speaker 1: there was no evidence that he himself was one, much 411 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,360 Speaker 1: less working in concert with the Soviets. His idol was 412 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: said to be f d R, and many of his 413 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: social reforms were patterned after the New Deal. Nonetheless, President 414 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: Eisenhower was convinced that the R Ben's government posed a 415 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: threat and authorized the CIA to oust him. A coup 416 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: was put into motion using radio propaganda, bombing raids, and 417 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: a small band of Guatemalan exiles and Central American mercenaries. 418 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: This results in the brutal overthrow of the Guatemalan government 419 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: and the chaos that comes after that. Once our bands 420 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 1: is deposed, he's humiliated, he's stripped, naked, forced to flee 421 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: to Mexico, and Guatemala never really recovers from that. For 422 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: forty or fifty years. Meanwhile, on the home front, United 423 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: Fruit continued to win hearts and minds, providing books and 424 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: pamphlets to schools on the value of bananas you might 425 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: call it banana Ganda, and making movies like Journey to 426 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: Banana Land. Today, fast white steamships travel across the Caribbean 427 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 1: with cargoes more valuable than pirates. Gold officers and trim 428 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: white uniforms pick up their golden cargoes from a place 429 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 1: we called Banana Lam. The film goes inside Central American 430 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 1: countries where everyone is hard at work but also happy, 431 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: of course, as bananas are harvested. As the plant bends, 432 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: the bunch comes down on the shoulder of another man 433 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 1: who has called a backer. Each bunch ways from fifte 434 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 1: seventy five palms. The United Fruit wanted people to buy 435 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,960 Speaker 1: their bananas and their bananas only, and a few years 436 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: earlier had come up with a way to get brand 437 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: recognition in the form of a certain cartoon character with 438 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: a memorable tingle. I'm Takita Banana, and I've come to 439 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: say bananas have to ripen in a certain way, and 440 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: when they click with brown and have a golden hue, 441 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: bananas tastes the best and not the best for you. 442 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,960 Speaker 1: Animated spokes banana, Miss Chiquita was an instant hit. Anyway 443 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: you want to eat them, it's impossible to beat them. 444 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: But banana is like the climate of a very very 445 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: tropical equador. So you should never put bananas in the 446 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: refriger on sidebar. With all due respect to Miss Chiquita, 447 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: her parent company now notes it is okay to put 448 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: bananas in the refrigerator after they've ripened. It'll keep them 449 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: fresh just a little longer. The animated banana with a 450 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: bowl of fruit on her head was modeled after a 451 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: movie star, Carmen Miranda, known as the Brazilian Bombshell, who 452 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: had shimmied and sombered her way to box office gold 453 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 1: in the nineteen forties, at one point becoming the highest 454 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,280 Speaker 1: paid actress in Hollywood. Are you at there? Why does 455 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: everybody look at me? And then begin to talk about 456 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 1: the Pristmas three, I hope. That means that everyone he's 457 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 1: glad to see the Lady and the two footi head. 458 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: Carmen Miranda played on the stereotype of the fiery, tempered 459 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:48,440 Speaker 1: and lustful Latin American woman, but her talent was undeniable. 460 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,320 Speaker 1: Her lady in the two d fruity hat number in 461 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 1: the film, The Gang's All Here is a banana extravaganza 462 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 1: as dancers wave giant bananas around. The New York Times 463 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: review of the film did note that the dance numbers 464 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: quote seemed to stem straight from Freud. They weren't wrong. 465 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 1: Carmen Miranda was inextricably tied to the banana, as she 466 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: would often remind but don't forget people. I think there 467 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: was lots of money being made with bananas for Carmen Miranda, 468 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: United Fruit and others, but time was running out for 469 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:32,879 Speaker 1: the groomy shell. Trouble had been brewing since the early 470 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,319 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds when bananas in Panama were infected by a 471 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: fungus so it's named Panama disease. And this fung is 472 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: not only destroys banana plantations very quickly, but thouls the 473 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: soil in a way that the bananas cannot grow there 474 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: pretty much ever again, and remember that banana biology lesson 475 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: from earlier. The fact that each groomy shell banana was 476 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:00,759 Speaker 1: essentially a clone of every other groomy shell banana meant 477 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,280 Speaker 1: that if one banana were in danger, they all were. 478 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:09,040 Speaker 1: When Panama disease first hit, companies tried to outrun it, 479 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: moving to different fields, starting over. But the disease was 480 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: spreading fast and thousands of acres of land had to 481 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: be abandoned. Its spread to Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras. 482 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:28,520 Speaker 1: So you have this insane situation. Demand is increasing, you 483 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,439 Speaker 1: need to keep prices low, but land is getting more 484 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 1: difficult to find because of this disease. Finally, after decades 485 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:40,200 Speaker 1: of battling Panama disease, the banana companies had to face facts. 486 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: The grow Michelle as a mass market banana was doomed. 487 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,080 Speaker 1: They needed to find another variety. Changing the whole industry 488 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,360 Speaker 1: to another banana, which is a huge logistical issue, becomes 489 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: sort of the worst choice to the sort of hide bound, 490 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 1: entrenched banana barons. They don't want to do younger. You wait, 491 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,879 Speaker 1: it's the only choice, right, right, And so it's doll 492 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:06,800 Speaker 1: that begins experimenting with a replacement for the grow michell 493 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: um and experiments with a whole bunch of them, and 494 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 1: Cavendish is one of them. The Cavendish began to replace 495 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,600 Speaker 1: the grow michell in the late nineteen fifties. Now, as 496 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 1: I've made clear, I find the Cavendish to be a 497 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: boring banana. If you heard our season one episode on 498 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: sitcom Deaths and Disappearances, you may remember the story of 499 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: the two Darren's from Bewitched, two actors in the same role, 500 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,160 Speaker 1: the second one far lesser memorable than the first. You 501 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,280 Speaker 1: know where this is going. The Cavendish is the second 502 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: Darren of bananas. There I've said it. It's also smaller 503 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:46,960 Speaker 1: than the groomy shell, and it bruises more easily. But 504 00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 1: it wasn't as susceptible to Panama disease. Would Americans accept 505 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:56,879 Speaker 1: this new, lesser banana. There were concerns, but as Dan 506 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:01,040 Speaker 1: Capell says, they ultimately didn't matter. Maybe it's the beginning 507 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: of the age of fast food. Maybe the American palette 508 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,920 Speaker 1: is not so sophisticated. The transition who went fairly smoothly. 509 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:10,279 Speaker 1: I think there were very few people who sort of 510 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 1: saw this new banana and recognize it as a new banana, 511 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,480 Speaker 1: or even taste it and said, you know, this doesn't 512 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:17,120 Speaker 1: taste right, It's not as good as the other one. 513 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: By the nineteen sixties the transition was complete. Big Banana 514 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:29,800 Speaker 1: sold their final groomy shells in In the years since, 515 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,560 Speaker 1: we've all come to tolerate, if not embrace, the caven dish. 516 00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:37,600 Speaker 1: But the Cavendish itself is also in danger, vulnerable to 517 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,879 Speaker 1: a number of diseases. And it's entirely possible that, yes, 518 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: we have no bananas, could become our reality if the 519 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,719 Speaker 1: cabin dish goes the way of the groomy shell. If 520 00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:51,759 Speaker 1: you were to eulogize to groomy shell, what might you say? 521 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,959 Speaker 1: I would say, it's nice to eulogize the growmer shell, 522 00:37:55,160 --> 00:38:01,359 Speaker 1: and it clearly deserves eulogizing. But are good bananas out there, 523 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,200 Speaker 1: other bananas that are even better. And the idea that 524 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:08,320 Speaker 1: we should just give up and just accept this mediocre 525 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:13,319 Speaker 1: banana um and lament the better banana that's lost does 526 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 1: not have to be the future of the banana. We 527 00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:20,600 Speaker 1: can get those great bananas. You're a banana optimist. I am. 528 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,960 Speaker 1: I am the ultimate Banana Optimists. We leave you now 529 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:30,880 Speaker 1: with Broadway superstar Andrea Shields singing the Chaqueta Banana song 530 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: and Jack the Banana and I'm here to say, but 531 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:41,400 Speaker 1: banana on your series like this today you loveth the 532 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:46,279 Speaker 1: breakfast or at any time, no matter when you eat it, 533 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:50,520 Speaker 1: those bananas tastes fine. We're going to issue that as 534 00:38:50,520 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: its own single. I hope you savored this Mobituary. May 535 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,000 Speaker 1: I ask you to please rate and review our podcast. 536 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: You can also follow Mobituaries on Facebook and Instagram, and 537 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: you can follow me on Twitter at Morocca. Here. All 538 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:14,359 Speaker 1: new episodes of Mobituaries every Wednesday. Wherever you get your 539 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:19,239 Speaker 1: podcasts and check out Mobituaries. Great Lives Worth Reliving the 540 00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:22,719 Speaker 1: New York Times best selling book, now available in paperback 541 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 1: and audiobook. It includes plenty of stories not in the podcast. 542 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:32,200 Speaker 1: This episode of Mobituaries was produced by Zoe Marcus. Our 543 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: team of producers also includes Aaron Shrank, Wilcome Martinez Cacceto, 544 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:40,719 Speaker 1: and Me Morocca. It was edited by Moral Walls and 545 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:44,880 Speaker 1: engineered by Josh Hahn, with fact checking by Katherine Newhan. 546 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: Our production company is me On Media. Our archival producer 547 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,280 Speaker 1: is Jamie Benson. Our theme music is written by Daniel Hart. 548 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:59,440 Speaker 1: Indispensable support from Craig Swaggler, Dustin Gerveis, Alan Pang, Reggie Basil, 549 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:04,680 Speaker 1: and everyone at CBS News Radio. The Irrefutable Aaron Shrink 550 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:09,800 Speaker 1: is our senior producer. Executive producers for Mobituaries include Steve 551 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:13,960 Speaker 1: Raise's and Morocco. The series is created by Yours truly 552 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 1: and as always, undying thanks to Rand Morrison and John 553 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:22,320 Speaker 1: carp for helping breathe life into Mobituaries