Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Did You Know Tuesday - Fun Facts About Bananas

April 20 is Banana Day.  I celebrate this fruit daily with at least one serving.  I love bananas sliced on top of cereal.  I also enjoy them with a sandwich for lunch.  And my pup Abby (you know her as Dear Abby here!) loves a bite of bananas, too.

Bananas became popular in the United States largely due to bananas imported by the United Fruit Company, which later grew into Chiquita Brands International. 

The Chiquita Banana advertising character, Miss Chiquita, was created in 1944 by cartoonist Dik Browne, who also drew the Hagar the Horrible comic strip. 

The familiar peel off Chiquita stickers with Miss Chiquita started appearing on bananas in 1963.  They are still hand placed in order not to damage the fruit.


A few fun facts about bananas:

Bananas float in water.  (So do apples and watermelons!)

The strings on bananas are called phloem.

One banana is called a "finger."  A bunch of bananas is called a "hand."

There are more than 1000 varieties of bananas, but the one that is popular in America is the Cavendish.

Bananas contain six major vitamin groups.

Here is the original Chiquita Banana commercial from the 1940's.  It was produced by the United Fruit Company.  The voice of Chiquita was Monica Lewis, who died in 2015 at the age of 93.



Do you love bananas? What is your favorite way to eat them? I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Such fun facts! Gave me a good laugh-- fingers and hands, who knew! I need to eat more bananas, I love them but it's just something I forget about buying.

Rachel said...

My favorite way is definitely in a smoothie. :P I learned something new about bananas today, thanks!

It’s Simply Lindsay said...

I love all your fun posts!!! When I was younger, I was the Chaquita banana girl for Halloween. I also love these random banana facts - I'm going to go home and put my banana in water to watch it float.

Birdhouse Books said...

Thanks for stopping by! I enjoyed reading your comments.

Lindsay, how cute about the Chiquita banana girl costume!

Trish

Mary Huckaby said...

My favorite sandwich is made with bananas and peanut butter. And I dearly love banana splits! So many yummy ways to eat bananas. They never last long at my house. Thank you again for a very interesting post, Trish!

Farrah said...

hahaha, I had no idea it was Banana Day tomorrow, but I love bananas as well! They're awesome in so many things :] I..didn't know about any of these facts, but that's pretty awesome, haha. :D! I enjoy them in smoothies all the time! :P

Rachel said...

How fun! I had no idea bananas could float!

Birdhouse Books said...

Thanks for visiting!

Mary, my Dad loved peanut butter and banana sandwiches, too. I am more a fan of an old fashioned PBJ with a banana as "dessert." Comfort food from childhood! :-)

Rachel, me either! I haven't tried to float a banana in water - yet!

Trish

Lori said...

My daughter and I love bananas too! I freeze them often and use them later in smoothies. Thanks for sharing!

Birdhouse Books said...

That is a great idea about freezing them for smoothies ... going to try that. Thanks! :-)

LynSire said...

This was fun to watch! As a vegan I love fruits and specially bananas! I enjoyed watching the commercial, haha!

Birdhouse Books said...

Thanks! I'm vegetarian and love fruit too.