I love pineapples.  I have always loved their delicious, sweet flavor...but my love for the pineapple is much deeper than its flavor and interesting packaging.  When I was newly married, my husband and I would often travel east to Virginia to visit his sister and brother-in-law (and later his brothers) at dental school in Richmond.  I fell in love with the history and culture of Williamsburg, Monticello and the many plantations we visited.  It was there that I learned what the pineapple meant to the early colonists. 

Wikipedia states:

European colonists carried the pineapple symbol back to the Americas to represent “friendship” and as an image of “welcome”.

For early colonists, visiting was the primary means of entertainment and cultural exchange, so the concept of hospitality was a central element in colonial life. The pineapple, symbolized the warmest welcome a hostess could extend to her guests, and the expensive and exotic fruit was often served as the dessert for the meal. If the visitors spent the night, they would be given a bedroom with a bed in which pineapples had been carved on either the bedposts or the headboard.  

As someone who loves to entertain and host guests in my home, the symbol of the pineapple really made an impression on me.  Take a look at a few I have around my house:

Labels: non-food

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