LATROBE, PA — This small city best known as the training camp site of the Pittsburgh Steelers, now has another reason to be renowned. Dole Food Company has named Latrobe as one of three inaugural inductees in the Dole Banana Hall of Fame for its ongoing contributions to the yellow fruit.
Located about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, the city of 8,000 is being honored for its invention of the banana split and annual hosting of the Great American Banana Split Celebration.
The Dole Hall of Fame was established by the global produce leader earlier this year as part of the Dole 125th Banana-versary, a year-long celebration of its 125 years in the banana business.
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According to Latrobe officials, the banana split dates back to 1904 when David Strickler, a 23-year-old local soda jerk, cut a banana lengthwise, added vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream and topped it with syrups, marshmallow, chopped nuts, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry.
Within a few years, the banana split had become a national dessert craze.
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In 2013, Latrobe worked with the Pennsylvania Historical Society to erect an official marker on
the site of the original pharmacy and hosted its first Great American Banana Split Celebration which has become a nationally famous annual event that draws tens of thousands of banana and dessert lovers every August.
According to William Goldfield, Dole’s communications director, the Dole Hall of Fame was created to honor those culinary and cultural institutions like Latrobe that have played a pivotal role in making the banana a universal symbol for simple nutrition, goodness, flavor and fun.
“All of us at Dole are well aware that we could never have made it to our banana quasquicentennial – our 125th year of growing and marketing bananas – without the help of other banana ambassadors with a similar passion for the fruit,” he said in a news release. “This hall of fame is for them.”
The other two inaugural Dole Banana Hall of Fame inductees announced Monday are Brennan’s New Orleans, creator of the Bananas Foster dessert; and Bobby Banana, Dole’s 7-foot tall banana mascot.
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