Here are a few historical explanations for how this myth may have come about, and they’re all interesting.
1.The explanation we hear the most often is that bananas were always loaded on the fastest boats for shipping, as they have a tendency to spoil. The fishermen trawling off the back of these boats never caught anything because the boat was moving too fast.
2.Bananas float, so when a ship sank the only thing that rescue crews found was a bunch of floating bananas. It didn’t take long for people to draw a correlation.
3.Bananas are a breeding ground for poisonous animals and bacteria, causing infection amongst crew members on long journeys.
4.When shipped together, bananas would cause other fruits to spoil more quickly. Apparently, this is due to a gas emitted by bananas as they ripen.
Whatever the historical origin of the banana myth, fishermen have perpetuated it. Some captains even go so far as to exclude Banana Boat sunscreen and Banana Republic clothing. Banana bread? Forget about it. Many say that once the offending item is discovered and cast overboard, the bad luck is absolved and the fishing improves instantly.
