City - Salem, MA - The Distinguished Bunch 1890

by Mike Savad

Title

City - Salem, MA - The Distinguished Bunch 1890

Artist

Mike Savad

Medium

Photograph - Hand Colored Photo

Description

Hand colored photo from 1890
Original title: Salem, Front Street looking toward Washington Street, views
Photographer: Frank Cousins
Location: 32 Front St, Salem, MA

In the late 1800s, bananas were a rare and exotic sight in American cities, an indulgence more likely to be found on the tables of the wealthy than in the hands of everyday shoppers. Their novelty and perishability made them difficult to obtain, and transportation from the tropics was slow and expensive. But all of that began to change in 1885 with the founding of the Boston Fruit Company.
This company revolutionized the fruit trade by establishing plantations in the West Indies and maintaining its own fleet of steamships. These ships could move bananas quickly and in greater quantities, making it possible for the fruit to arrive fresh at ports like Boston. What had once been a tropical delicacy now began to trickle into public markets and urban storefronts.

Men in vests and aprons, drivers and merchants, crowd around the wagons. They were part of an emerging ecosystem that sustained America's growing appetite for fresh produce. Before refrigeration and trucks, speed and timing were everything. The phrase "Headquarters for Southern Truck," seen in signage, likely referred to produce from truck farms in the South, small farms that shipped vegetables and fruit northward, joining the flow of imported goods like bananas.

By 1899, the Boston Fruit Company had merged with the operations of Minor C. Keith to form the United Fruit Company, expanding this network even further. Bananas, once a luxury, were now becoming a part of the American diet, especially in port cities like Boston, where access was first and easiest.

To see a wagonload of bananas in the streets at this time was to witness a symbol of modernity. It wasn't just about the fruit, it was about the infrastructure behind it: the ships, the ports, the merchants, the laborers. It was a sign that Boston, and the country, was plugged into a global web of commerce. In just a few decades, bananas went from being a rich man's curiosity to a commonplace purchase, and their journey tells the story of a changing world, one crate at a time.

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May 24th, 2025

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