The International Banana Museum was a museum located in Mecca, California, dedicated to the banana.[1] The one-room museum contained more than 20,000 items related to bananas.[1] In 1999, the museum set a Guinness World Record as the largest museum devoted to a single fruit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum stated it would close.[2] As of August 2023, it remained closed.[3]
In 1972, Kenneth Bannister was a president of a photographic equipment manufacturing company, and at a manufacturers' conference, he handed out thousands of Chiquita banana stickers.[1][4][5] His joke was that since the banana was shaped like a smile, it might encourage people to do so.[1]
Encouraged by the positive response, Bannister created the International Banana Club and was designated as the "Top Banana".[1] He started receiving banana-related items in the mail, but began to run out of room for all of them.[4][5] He founded the museum in 1976.[1]
The International Banana Club and Museum operated in Altadena in a rented building.[1][4][5][6] The Banana Club grew to 35,000 members in 17 countries.[4] Donating a banana-related item to the museum would enable one to join the Banana Club, with a nickname and ability to earn "banana merit points", and obtain a degree in "Bananistry". President Ronald Reagan was a member of the club.[1]
In 2005, Bannister relocated the museum to a rent-free city-owned space in Hesperia.[4][6] However, in 2010, the Hesperia Recreation and Park District wanted the museum to move out to make room for a new exhibit.[6] Bannister placed the entire collection on eBay for $45,000.[4][6] He lowered the price to $7,500[4] and in 2010, Fred Garbutt bought the collection for an undisclosed amount, moving it to Mecca, California, and becoming the new curator. It was reported that Bannister had agreed to a purchase price below $7,500.[1][5]
In 1999, the museum won a Guinness World Record as the largest museum devoted to a single fruit. At the time, it held a collection of 17,000 items.[4][6][7][8]
The collection included kitschy items such as a "banana couch, banana soda, gold-plated banana, banana boogie board, and banana ears".[5] The museum housed the only petrified banana in the world, which came from the closet of a girl in Kentucky.[1][6] The museum was family-friendly, despite a history of people sending in lewd objects.[1][4][5]
There was also a Banana Bar that served banana-related food and drinks.[1][7]
