Main content

London's 391 years of going bananas for bananas

On 10 April 1633, a crowd gathered outside a shop in Holborn, in the city of London, to goggle at a peculiar new display. Now ubiquitous in our fruit bowls and supermarkets, and always with the potential to cause a comedy slip, this was the start of London's relationship with the banana.

Since then, London has had a unique connection to the bendy fruit, but it still took a while for bananas to properly enter British culture. Most people in England still had not seen a banana by the end of the 19th Century.

So how did we Londoners come to love bananas so much that they have inspired songs, art, and even wartime solace.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio London's Ross Ryan has the story of London's 391 years of going bananas for bananas.

(Written by Bethan Bell)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Release date:

Duration:

6 minutes

This clip is from