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.