The Prickly Meanings of the Pineapple
The fruit had gone from being a rare curiosity to become an expensive but attainable luxury, at least for the wealthy. It became common practice to display a fresh pineapple at dinner parties to impress guests. This led to delightfully absurd situations: the pineapple became valued more for showing than for eating, and some people, who wanted to sh... See more
How pineapples got cheap
Commodified Hawaiian culture—the “luau,” the “hula girl,” and “aloha”—became part of the American vernacular and everyday life.
Adria L. Imada • Aloha America: Hula Circuits through the U.S. Empire
The first English recipe for a pineapple tart appeared in The Country Housewife in 1732, but, for the most part, those who were able to grow or obtain a pineapple wouldn’t have dreamed of eating it. ”Why would you eat that? It would be a bit like eating your Gucci handbag. What a waste,” Beauman explained. Instead, nobles would show it off to their
... See moreClaudia Geib • How Pineapples Became the Gucci Purse of 1700s Europe
The principal cargo of the ships proved to be pineapples, most of them brought up from Cuba during the six- to eight-week season. Thirty-five hundred carloads of the fruit passed through Key West each year, and unemployed workers enjoyed a bonanza each “Pineapple Day” when a new shipment arrived.
Les Standiford • Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean
