Banana Lore: Answers

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You may think this quiz was bananas, but how well did you do?

Banana Lore: Answers

A banana mounted on a fork over a gril and hot coals.

True or false?

  1. A cluster of bananas is known as a hand.
    True. Individual bananas are called 'fingers', what else?
  2. Bananas were more popular than potatoes in colonial America.
    False. In colonial America, bananas only showed up at rare intervals in ports, brought by sailors from the Caribbean. Potatoes, on the other hand, were home-grown. The banana was officially introduced to the US at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. There, you could buy one for 10 cents, wrapped in tinfoil. How exotic was that?
  3. There is such a thing as banana beer.
    True. Of course there is. In some places in Africa, it is used ceremonially. In Uganda, banana beer is known as mwenge. It is not known if Pastey is fond of banana beer, or how much is consumed in Manchester.
  4. Banana-related accidents have never occurred in the UK.
    False. Are you kidding? In 2001, accident-prone Brits reported 300 banana-related incidents. It was the peelings, mostly. (But not always.)
  5. Sam 'The Banana Man' Zemurray was famous for writing the song 'Yes, We Have No Bananas'.
    False. The immigrant from Bessarabia was the head of the United Fruit Company, and as such, was most famous for hiring 'Machine Gun' Molony and others to help overthrow the Honduran government. Sam took his banana business seriously, and tended to make offers you couldn't refuse.
  6. There are no bananas grown in the EU.
    False. There are bananas grown in Crete. For many years, these were the only bananas that could be sold in Greece. Once again, it was politics. Entering the EU caused Greece to finally lift the ban on banana imports. Read this fascinating take on the history.
  7. Josephine Baker was famous for throwing bananas off the Eiffel Tower.
    False. Josephine Baker is famous for dancing in Paris in a costume made of bananas. If you haven't seen this dance, click here.. (Or even if you have, la Baker is worth a revisit.)
  8. A 'Top Banana' is a kind of South American fruit exporter.
    False. A 'Top Banana' is the lead comedian in a burlesque show. His assistant is the 'Second Banana'.
  9. Smoking banana peelings can lead to hallucinations. (So don't do it.).
    False. (Although we still don't recommend it.) Back in the 1960s, of course, the US drug enforcement people tested the effects of smoking banana peelings (on a machine, of course), and determined that it did nothing. So get out of the kitchen. If you want chapter and verse on the insane saga from hippie days, click here.
  10. In the 'Banana Boat Song', the singer is hiding from the immigration authorities.
    False. What is hiding in the 'beautiful bunch of ripe bananas' is a 'deadly black tarantula'. For a different look at the 'Banana Boat Song', check out Stan Freberg here.

We hope you found this quiz tasty. If you did, stop rolling those banana cigarettes and tell your friends.

A banana framed by bananas
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Dmitri Gheorgheni

06.08.12 Front Page

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