Banana in North America

Bananas were not known in North America until 1870 Lorenzo Dow Baker a sea captain from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, discovered bananas when he was visiting Jamaica.

Baker purchased several hands of unripe Gros Michel bananas and brought them back to Jersey City, New Jersey, where he sold them for two dollars. This was a high price to pay for bananas but American liked the exotic fruit and wanted more.

Bananas were officially introduced to the American public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Each banana was wrapped in foil and sold for 10 cents. Customers were ready to buy them but few were available for purchase.

In the late 1870’s, with the invention of the telegraph and the development of the Central American railroads the banana industry finally took shape.

The earliest efforts to ship bananas failed, but the early twentieth century shipbuilders had built refrigerated ships. They painted them white to reflect the hot tropical sun.
Banana in North America