Large pile of bananas — *In the early 20th century, banana imports were a massive part of the New Orleans economy*

The Banana Man: NOLA’s Fruit Tycoon

Peel away at the story of the banana, the most consumed fruit in the United States, and you will find a history of mythic proportions – power, corruption, political coups, and at the heart of it, an immigrant businessman who made New Orleans the hub of his empire.

It wasn’t until the very end of the 19th century that bananas became popular across the United States. In fact, they were still considered quite exotic, but it wasn’t long before the banana industry experienced a boom. The shipping ports along the southern parts of the US offered a gateway to move the fruit from the Central American countries where they were grown to the States, first by ship across the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the railway system. It was in one of these port cities, Mobile, Alabama, where a young Russian-born immigrant with an entrepreneurial spirit and $150 in his pocket found a way to break into what would become an industry that shaped the world.

The Humble Beginnings of a Banana Empire

Samuel Zemurray, born to a poor Jewish family of wheat farmers in what is now known as Moldova, emigrated to the US in 1891 at the age of 14 after the death of his father. After encountering a banana for the first time in his new home of Selma, Alabama, the young Zemurray traveled to Mobile where many of the ships carrying bananas and other imports docked.

From Discarded Bananas to Millionaire

In Mobile, Zemurray noticed that not all of the fruit made it from the ships to the train cars – if the bananas were on the verge of ripening or were already ripe, they were discarded. The budding entrepreneur knew that if he could move the produce fast enough, he still had the chance to make money off of what the importers considered trash, so he used his meager funds to purchase as many of the discarded bananas as he could, rented a boxcar, and then sold off all of the fruit on his ride back home to Selma. With this first taste of success, Zemurray launched into his newfound career, and in just a few years he had saved up over $100,000, which in today’s economy would make him a millionaire by the age of 21.

Black and white photo of man in suit in front of piles of bananas — *Photograph by Eliot Elisofon/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.*

Establishing a Foothold in New Orleans and Honduras

Zemurray eventually moved his operation to New Orleans, known at that point to be the Queen City of the South, in part because of its booming port. He and his business partner acquired a steamship company and the Cuyamel Fruit Company, and they began importing the bananas themselves from farmers in Honduras.

Expanding the Business

As business grew, the Banana Man took a more hands-on approach to the work, purchasing 5,000 acres of land in Honduras and making the shift from only importing the fruit to growing it as well. It was this move that would set the stage for an elaborate scheme for Samuel Zemurray to stage a Central American coup to protect his banana interests.

Orchestrating a Central American Coup

The same year the Banana Man began purchasing land and building his fruit empire in Honduras, the Honduran government was working fervently to repay their sovereign debts to the United Kingdom, setting up a system to collect the taxes needed to cover what they owed. This did not bode well for Zemurray and his ever-growing business dealings. Much of what he had already accomplished in Honduras was due in part to his willingness to make bribes and backroom deals with their government, but this new push to collect these taxes would have been detrimental to Zemurray’s profits.

The Birth of the Term "Banana Republic"

Zemurray took matters into his own hands and hired New Orleans-based mercenaries to stage a coup, overthrow the then president Miguel Dávila, and install Manuel Bonilla in the role instead. Bonilla, the former Honduran president, had actually been exiled from the country and living in New Orleans. The hired soldiers set sail in a vessel previously used by the US Navy in the Spanish-American War, sailing from the city to Central America via Lake Pontchartrain to avoid detection. In the end, between the 100 or so mercenaries and the rebels recruited from Honduras, Zemurray succeeded, and the Cuyamel Fruit Company was rewarded handsomely with tax and land concessions by the newly installed president. This coup set the standard for powerful foreign-owned fruit companies like Cuyamel interfering in government affairs in countries like Honduras, and thus the term “banana republic” was born.

Large white mansion with columns shaded by trees — *Samuel Zemurray’s Beaux Arts-style mansion he lovingly restored - the home was eventually donated to Tulane University*

Zemurray's Lavish Retirement

The next several years, the Banana Man’s business grew by leaps and bounds, and in 1929, the entrepreneur sold Cuyamel Fruit Company to one of his rivals, United Fruit, for $31.5 million, making him one of the richest men in America at the time. With the sale of Cuyamel, Samuel Zemurray agreed to retire from the fruit business, an agreement that only lasted for two years.

The Beaux Arts Mansion on St. Charles Avenue

During that short time, though, Zemurray kept busy, purchasing and remodeling an incredibly ornate mansion in New Orleans’ famous Garden District. The home still stands stately along the oak-lined St. Charles Avenue, and it is now the residence for the president of Tulane University. It is a breathtaking example of the Beaux Arts architectural style. Today, visitors to New Orleans can take the St. Charles Streetcar line to see this lavish uptown home. The mansion is also sometimes featured on Gators & Ghosts’ Tour NOLA City Tour.

Hostile Takeover of United Fruit

After a few years of “retirement,” Samuel Zemurray got back in the banana business when United Fruit’s stock values tumbled in a freefall once it had acquired Cuyamel. Between corporate mismanagement and the Great Depression, United Fruit had lost its way, and the Banana Man wasted no time in purchasing a controlling share of the company, voting out the sitting board of directors, and restructuring the entire business. The Banana Man was back on top, taking a slash-and-burn stance to reorganizing United Fruit to make it profitable again.

Conspiracies, communism and philanthropy

Samuel Zemurray retired for good in 1951, just two years before United Fruit embarked in a massive PR campaign to garner public and government approval for yet another Central American coup, this one involving the CIA, Guatemala, and the ever-feared threat of Communism. Zemurray, however, was busy with his philanthropy work, making very generous donations to Tulane University (including, eventually, the family home on St. Charles Avenue),

The Birth of Bananas Foster and the Brennan Connection

In the same year of Zemurray’s retirement, a new phenomenon was born in New Orleans, the now world-renowned dessert, Bananas Foster. The story goes that the family of culinary giants, the Brennans, were playing host to the New Orleans Crime Commissioner one night in 1951 in their restaurant named for their family, and the owner tasked his sister Ella with creating a new dessert to honor their special guest. In her haste, the budding restauranteur grabbed what she could find in the kitchen – sugar, butter, rum, and the (by then) ubiquitous banana. A few quick stirs of the pan, and a legendary dish was born.

A Culinary Legacy Born from New Orleans' Banana Trade

Now ordering this sticky sweet dessert in any of the city’s renowned restaurants guarantees you a fiery front row seat as Bananas Foster has become a dish that relies on showmanship as much as flavor to really hit the mark, typically prepared tableside and flambeed with towering flames that awe diners. And why was it so easy for Ella Brennan to snatch a few ripe bananas from the kitchen that night to create her now legendary dish? Because the Brennan family was connected to the Standard Fruit Company, the other New Orleans-based banana import rival of Zemurray’s United Fruit.

Dish of flambeed bananas and vanilla ice cream — *Bananas Foster, a dish born in the fine dining establishments of New Orleans (Photo: neworleansrestaurants.com)*

The Death & Legacy of Sam Zemurray

Samuel Zemurray died in 1961, after a lifetime of risky but well-played business dealings, political intrigue, and ties to conspiracies and coups.

A Life of Intrigue and a Simple Banana

He was laid to rest in a modest family burial plot in Metairie Cemetery with a tombstone that gives no hint of the wildly faceted and storied history of a man who, for better or worse, changed the world with a simple banana.

Samuel Zemurray: the Banana Man of New Orleans