The New Banana & More

By 1931, it should have been okay to start conversation at parties using gin and vermouth again. Maybe this booklet was targeted at hostesses who didn't drink. From a 24-page promo published by Fruit Dispatch Co.

The inside of the front and back covers. The placid pink coloring here reflects how much the locals loved giving us all their food and labor, before Che' and Castro showed up to ruin everything.

When bananas got into trouble back then, their press agent talked privately with Hearst and made sure that the public never found out...

...Still, somehow the banana-bacon combo got on through. To this day, nobody's sure how it happened.

On the left, you can see why they nicknamed this dish "Banana Slug Delight." [shudder]. Meanwhile, on the center right, the trippy Deco patterns keep everyone from noticing that their banana has been rolled in mayonnaise before being, er, studded with nuts.

In the instructions for Banana Frosting (which sounds like it might be pretty good), they specify using a "silver fork" to mash the fruit with. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was like serving caviar, and the wrong utensil substance would destroy their delicate bouquet or something.

(L.) Please tell me somebody based a quilt design on these sandwiches. (Including the banana-liverwurst combo.) Because that would rock. (R.) The foods-for-kiddies page also looks great, though I don't know what animal the salt and pepper shakers are meant to be. (Donkeys? A Chihuahua-Doberman mix?) Or why you'd need to salt and pepper a Banana "Junior Custard" in the first place. Some mysteries aren't meant to be solved, I guess.

Brought to you by the American Dairy Association. "Take a fully ripe banana. Simply press it through a sieve..." Then mix it with the milk by hand for an hour to get the nice, even texture shown in the picture. Don't use an electric mixer or blender, because that won't build your character. From the June issue of American Home magazine. (Originally posted to flickr on April 7th, 2011.)

Front and back cover of a 24-page promotional published by the United Fruit Company (famed lovers of fair play and world democracy), New York, N.Y. (Originally posted to flickr on January 31st, 2011.)