Hey everybody, now that we learned about some banana facts in my previous post, we’ll read a story of a man who is known for his love for bananas;  partly hilarious, shrewd, businessy. I have summarized the story chapter wise (overview) to clearly organize my thoughts on this book. This story is about The Fish That Ate the Whale. 😀

                                                                                      Intro

Samuel Zemurray arrived in America as a penniless Russian in 1892. When he died in the best and grandest house in New Orleans, he was one of the richest men in America. He is known with a variety of nicknames like Z, the gringo, The Russian, Sam the banana man, El amigo.

                                                                                      Chapter 1

Sam in the beginning, did not even know what a banana was. He had seen his first banana in 1893. In one version Sam saw that first banana behind his uncle’s store in Selma, Alabama. A peddler was pedaling his bananas when Sam peppered a salesman with question. As the author of this book likes to imagine, I too, like to imagine Sam peeling the banana, eating it in three big, delicious bites, tossing it into the street and saying “wonderful” this next sentence is the funniest sentence I’ve heard in any book I read; it’s the original sentence from the book: In a famous exchange, when challenged by a rival who claimed he could not understand Zemurray’s accent, Zemurray said, “you’re fired. Can you understand that?” Sam’s personality was all business. If he found an opportunity, he hung on to it like it was the last piece of land.

                                                                                      Chapter 2

Zemurray, in Selma, worked for money to become a banana peddler which was the first step in his life. When he had $150, he took his money and set out for Mobile. Mobile was an industrial port where things like cotton, coal, fruit Were received and sent. Train sheds, where goods get transported throughout the state or country, were filled with Jewish immigrant peddlers. Whenever a ship came to a port, that very second you would see the port swarming with unloaders. They unloaded goods from the ship and passed it from man to man till it reached a boxcar. They were very organized. Sam stood there watching every action, practically without blinking. He just wanted to learn every detail about the trade. Zemurray had $150.  Used all that money to buy some bunches of bananas. Sam’s bananas were in the boxcar and the train started. It took six days, but Sam earned a $40 profit.

                                                                        Chapter 3

He continued selling bananas from a box car. Which is the reason why historians later started saying that Zemurray was an ordinary poor Jewish peddler selling bananas in a boxcar instead of from a wagon. This was when he started being known as “Sam the banana man.” But Zemurray even when he merged with united fruit, he was referred to as “the fruit jobber.” Year by year Zemurray sold more bananas. He filled out since his beginning years in Selma. In 1899, fam sold 20,000 bananas. In 1903, he sold 574,000 bananas. He was getting so famous, that Andrew Preston, the president of U.F. company visited Sam. Though nothing was recorded, Preston admired Zemurray later saying “he’s a risk- taker.  He’s a thinker and he’s a doer.” After signing a contract with U.F., bananas began getting shipped and we’re being in the process of being Zemurray’s. Just a few years ago, if you saw was Sam was doing you would have thought he was a fool. He had accomplished a lot. By his 21st birthday, he had $100,000 in the bank. Now that’s just the start. Sam has got many more chapters in his life.   

                                                                                      Chapter 4

When Zemurray took a partner circa in 1903, He needed a capital, help, someone to throw in some cash, and someone to look after his office while he was gone or traveling. To do all that, Zemurray found a man named Ashbell Hubbard. Hubbard Is totally forgotten. If you hear of him and his name, it’s a very small note in the Banana Man’s story. They had become partners setting a goal for themselves, to traffic yellows and greens. If they did that, it meant they had to contact Central American farmers for a percentage of each harvest. The Hubbard-Zemurray company launched off with 30,000 in capital. Hubbard and Zemurray Rented an office in Mobile, Alabama. There would be schedules, railroad tables on a wall and after hours of work they would go to a bar, joined gossip or market talk. Sam, who is gruff, would then come with a thundering voice plus a frown and tell the workers “all right, boys, time to work. “In 1905, Sam and Ashbell bought the Thatcher Brothers Steamship company, which was then in a financial state. A bad one. The balance was covered by united fruit because Andrew Preston, then the president of the company, directed them. Because of such partnerships, U.F. got its nickname: El Pulpo, the Octopus. Back then U.F. literally owned a piece of you or wanted to ruin you. Around that time, Sam and Ashbell acquired the Cuyamel Fruit company, one of the major banana companies, founded in the 1890s. Cuyamel Was being purchased by some businessmen. Those businessmen invested lots more money in equipment, steam shovels and engines. Sam purchased a box of deeds that may or may not be honored.  

There is so much info in each of these chapters. Which Is why the summaries are a little long. And there is the whole rest of the book to come! Which means even more info! I love getting info, so I’m excited. I will be posting more chapter summaries. Bye!

Till the next one’

Monkey Me