According to the website of banana expert Dan Koeppel, Bannister got the idea for the landmark while he was working as a sales manager at Campbell Soup Co. He began handing out banana stickers at conventions "just as a way to get people's attention."
Soon, he said, recipients of the decals started sending him banana-related items and, well, the collection just grew. Campbell's, by the way, does not have a banana-flavored soup.
miscelLAny
The departure of the banana museum is another blow to cultural life in the L.A. area. The last couple of decades have seen the passing of the Hopalong Cassidy Museum in Downey, the Foot and Toe Museum in Long Beach, the Bigfoot Museum in Venice and the Southwestern Road Kill Museum (see photo) in downtown L.A.
Actually, the Road Kill was just a prop in "Larger Than Life," a 1996 Bill Murray movie that had a very short life.
--
Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083; by fax at (213) 237-4712; by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012; and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
