Re: [timewitnesses] Re: bananas

From: Faith Warn (faithetal@klm.forthnet.gr)
Date: Mon Oct 22 2001 - 22:51:18 PDT


I don't know about banana pie, Tom. But I do remember my next door neighbour
in East Ham, 'auntie' Vi, immediately after the war, bringing home a jar of
diced pineapple she had bought 'off the ration' from a spiv in Oxford
Street. The pineapple turned out to be turnip chunks in a syrup of pineapple
essence and saccharin :-(

This was around the time that the first cargo of post-war bananas arrived in
the country. For thousands of kids this was their first glimpse of this
weird fruit. Little Tommy and Albert, on the train home from their years of
evacuation, found they had one each in their lunch packs.
Puzzled, they examined them from all angles. Albert eventually unzipped his
and took a bite - just as the train entered a tunnel. "Tommy! Have you
started yours yet?"
"No"
"Whatever you do, throw it out the window. They make you go blind!"

Al Smith
Kalymnos - Greece


----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Holloway <tom.holloway@u3a.org.uk>
To: Simon Herbert <SHDA@Btinternet.com>
Cc: Timewitnesses List <timewitnesses@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 5:25 PM
Subject: [timewitnesses] Re: bananas


> Simon Herbert asked me......
>
> > Would bananas have been available in London/Britain at the time children
> > were evacuated during WW2?
>
> Definitely not. They were rare enough (and expensive) even before the war.
> During the war they were completely non-existent.
>
> I do remember, however, the relish with which we ate our wartime banana
> pie - made with parsnips and banana essence. After that delicious treat
> (served with condensed milk) the only attraction that _real_ bananas had
was
> the opportunity to unzip them - something you couldn't do with parsnips.
>
> ================
> Tom Holloway
> tom.holloway@u3a.org.uk
> tom@holloways.org <=== private email
> http://timewitnesses.org
> 01926-771772
>
>
>
>
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>
>


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