A Bunch of Banana Sticker Questions Quiz

Answer: One at a time, by people

Although capuchin monkeys are native to Central and South America, where many bananas are grown, they don't get to do this task. The Chiquita website states, "...we still carefully place each sticker on by hand. Machines are just too rough and can bruise the delicate fruit."

Answer: Miss Chiquita

More nifty notes from www.chiquita.com: "It all started in 1944 when Miss Chiquita was created to put a face on one of the world's first brands of bananas. She was drawn by artist Dik Browne who also drew her cousins the Campbell Soup 'kids' and 'Hagar the Horrible.'"
(Wow, would you have guessed that the alluring Miss Chiquita is related to Hagar's stout wife Helga?)
There is no Chiquita Parrot logo.

Answer: London, England

In 1888, the first commercial delivery of bananas, shipped from the Canary Islands, arrived in London for E.W. Fyffe Son & Co. They are now a leading fresh produce distribution company in Europe.
Scranton, PA is the locale of Harry Chapin's song, "30,000 Pounds of Bananas", about the very steep road into the city, a fruit truck which didn't make the grade, and the resulting accidently mashed bananas.

Answer: Raisins

My sister sent in the required proofs-of-purchase and received a set of these stickers... they were fully functional stickers, but were very, very tiny.
(Hmmm... if I could sell this quiz for money, I'd have... banana "bread"!)

Answer: Curious George

In one sticker of the series, Curious George is shown wearing a big yellow hat, but there aren't any bananas in the picture. Dole affixed 100 million Curious George stickers to bananas sold in the U.S. as part of a cross-promotion for the animated Curious George movie. That's some mighty clever marketing monkey-business!
Joey Ramone was indeed a character, but a real-life one, not fictional, and he sang of bananas in at least two songs: "Havana Affair" and "This Ain't Havana" ...Do you like bananas, ba-ba-bananas?

Answer: Bobby Banana

The sticker I have shows a grinning, partially-peeled Bobby wearing white gloves and red sneakers and he is riding a skateboard. I don't think there is a Pamela Plantain, and Dole would never print Miss Chiquita on their stickers, as Dole and Chiquita are competitors. Bananarama is the name of a UK band popular in the 1980s.

Answer: The bananas are from BanaCol, a Colombian marketer of bananas and plantains.

BanaCol Marketing Corporation is a subsidiary of C.I. Banacol S.A. in Colombia. They market Colombia and Costa Rica grown bananas, as well as plantains from Colombia, under the BanaCol label in the United States and Canada. The bananas arrive in North America at BanaCol's pier facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Coincidentally, this is just a few miles away from my kitchen cupboard with its paltry collection of stickers, including one from BanaCol.)
Colchicum is a kind of crocus, not a banana.

Answer: Del Monte

The familiar Del Monte shield made its first appearance on a can label in 1909. In 1989, the Del Monte Corporation divided into two separate entities: Del Monte Foods and the company which eventually became known as Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. Del Monte's modern fruit distribution center in Argentina is equipped with computerized ripening rooms that can hold many pallets of bananas.
(mmm, love that heavy syrup they pack the fruit cocktail in!)

Answer: It indicates the bananas are certified organic.

4011 is used to designate yellow Cavendish bananas, the most common variety. The prefix "9" is used with all produce PLUs to indicate the item is certified organic.
Although the zip code of Burlingame, CA and the banana PLU are indeed the same number, there is no connection between the two. Burlingame is NOT a processing center for bananas. It is noteworthy, however, as the home of the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia.

Answer: 19

Banana sticker collecting is a passionate hobby for bunches of folks worldwide. Many collectors have thousands of stickers, and there are catalogs, detailed photo lists, and trade requests. Some even collect the boxes bananas are shipped in. The printed rubber bands that girdle stalks of broccoli and asparagus have collectibility status now, too!
If you can peel yourself away from FunTrivia, try Googling "banana stickers" or visiting the very informative www.geocities.com/ferrobanana/ or the endearing www.beckymartz.com to learn more about this.
And to close this quiz, here's a ripe old tidbit:
"Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana."