From Wikipedia:
Banana republic is a pejorative term originally used to refer to a country that is politically unstable, dependent on limited agriculture (e.g. bananas), and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy, and corrupt clique.[1] The first known use of the term banana republic was by American author O. Henry in his 1904 book of linked short stories, Cabbages and Kings. The book is based on Henry's 1896-97 stay in the Honduras, while hiding from federal authorities for embezzlement in the United States.[2] The term was originally invented as a very direct reference to a "servile dictatorship" which abetted (or directly supported in return for kickbacks) the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture (usually banana cultivation).[1]
The main history of the introduction of bananas into the European market is vital to understanding the concept of a banana republic. Bananas were introduced into the European market in 1870 by the captain of The Telegraph, Lorenzo D. Baker, who initially bought bananas from Central America and sold them in Boston at a 1,000% profit.[3] While Baker traded bananas between the Caribbean and the United States, it was U.S railroad tycoon Henry Meigs and his nephew Minor C. Keith who started banana plantations, initially along the railway tracks in order to feed their workers, and upon realization of the lucrative profit of bananas sold in the United States, began also to export bananas from their plantation to the American Southeast.[4] A major factor in the popularity of bananas in the United States was that it was a tropical fruit that was sold at a substantially lower price than even local American fruits such as the apple (in 1913 a dozen bananas sold for a quarter, while the same price could only buy two apples).[5] The reason exporters were able to profit from such a low price point is because banana companies were able to obtain large areas of land in the Caribbean and Central and South America to grow banana plantations, as well as exploit the local population as a cheap source of labour.[5] The largest banana company, United Fruit Company (now known as Chiquita Brands International) was the result of a merging between Andrew Preston's Boston Fruit Company and Keith's Tropical Trading and Transport Company in 1899 and became so influential in the banana industry that by the 1930's contributed to between 80 and 90 percent of all banana trade with the United States[6]. The Standard Fruit Company, now named Dole Food Company, was established in 1924 by the Vaccaro Brothers.
-Sarah Konigsburg
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