Quote:
Originally Posted by patteeu
Do you have any idea where the pineapple came from? I wouldn't have guessed it was non-native either.
Looking forward to your Khe Sanh story if you have time. Cold Chisel, an Australian band, had a minor hit with a song called Khe Sanh. (I suppose it was probably a big hit in Australia).
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I never heard of that song. I'll listen to it a bit later.
Hope to do Khe Sang over lunch. It will be a bit lengthy.
Looked up the pineapple thing, and found this:
"Origin: The pineapple is native to southern Brazil and Paraguay where wild relatives occur. It was spread by the Indians up through South and Central America to the West Indies before Columbus arrived. In 1493 Columbus found the fruit on the island of Guadaloupe and carried it back to Spain and it was spread around the world on sailing ships that carried it for protection against scurvy. The Spanish introduced it into the Philippines and may have taken it to Hawaii and Guam early in the 16th Century. The pineapple reached England in 1660 and began to be grown in greenhouses for its fruit around 1720."
The above suggests that the date on which the pineapple was introduced to Hawaii can't be identified with certainty. Another website, however, says:
"When you think of pineapples, you think of Hawaii. So close has the association become that most people assume that the plant is native to the islands. In fact, pineapples originated in South America and probably did not reach Hawaii until early in the 19th century-the first record of their existence there is dated January 21, 1813-after having been spread by Europeans across much of the world."
So apparently this date, 1813 is the first time someone wrote "hey, there are pineapples here", as opposed to "hey, we stuck a pineapple seed in the ground, and it's going like gangbusters and my name is Bob Dole..."