Pondering - Pineapple

Originally Posted on Myspace: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=53935558&blogId=463911783#ixzz0zeZXxKAk

So today's bit of knowledge is that I found out that the international symbol of hospitality is the pineapple. Interesting I thought, so I had to look up why this was the case when I got home tonight. Turns out that the first account of the pineapple in the western world was written by Christopher Columbus when his crew came across it on one of his voyages and he brought it back to Europe where it was a prized commodity due to the relative lack of sweet foods in Europe.

But it was in colonial America where it became the symbol of hospitality as rich hostesses would often use a pineapple as a centerpiece for the dining room table. Since it was the most prized fruit it became one of the warmest welcomes / display of hospitality that a host could present to their guest. It was also during this time that visiting was one of the most important social events in society, when people would visit for several days at a time as a means of being social. Since the pineapple was so expensive just having it there for the guest showed how far out of the way the host went to impress them.

Also during the colonial period guest bedrooms would often feature pineapples in the carvings of beds and other decorations.

Original Comments:

Megan – this was really interesting :D although, I hate pineapple :p