Tucked away on a desolate desert road, just before entering one of the weirdest parts of the US, lies the International Banana Museum, a bizarre collection like no other.
Sounds strange, right? Well, once you sneak your way past the terrifying doorman above, you'll find yourself in a tiny museum of sorts, filled to the brim with all things phallic and yellow.
Guinness World Record certified for having the most banana propaganda in one place, the banana museum stands tall and proud, containing an impressive 20k+ pieces of ripe goodness.
Toys, mugs, stuffed animals, shirts hats, and a banana record player align the walls, while hundreds of potassium filled figurines enshrine the glass cases strewn about.
In fact, there are so many glowing yellow items in here that the place radiates from the minute you walk in; it’s almost blinding to the eye. As I mentioned, the place is small, so to be able to cram so many items is damned impressive. Everywhere you look is BANANAS! That shit is truly bananas.
The guy who runs the place, Fred Garbutt, is obviously dedicated to the cause, and his enthusiasm on the topic is quite contagious. His family also owns the Skip's Liquor next door, which should probably partner up with the museum to supply an "extra boost" to those banana shakes that Fred loves to cook up.
Look at Fred. Cool as the Fonze, wearing his sunglasses inside. The sun never sets on a badass.
Fred is certainly good for a conversation on the subject, discussing the collection in general (it's International because there are items from Russia, Ecuador, etc), telling the origin story (see below) and hooking it up with his signature shake.
The guy has a lot of heart, and clearly loves what he's doing here, so pop by and support his movement.
Or at least stop by to get one last breath of fresh, non horrible smelling, air before entering the dreaded Salton Sea area.
HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
In 2009, Fred was just a simple (non banana) business owner in Palm Springs when his mom Virginia saw a collection of banana memorabilia up for sale on Ebay. The lot was being sold by Ken Bannister, an LA based entrepreneur/previous banana record holder, who was looking to unload his plantain collection after losing the lease on his Riverside County banana shop.
At the time, Fred's family business Skip's liquor and pup was hurting and in desperate need of a makeover. After the eBay find is when it all clicked-- "Maybe we should open a museum of some kind?" Fred thought "Why not bananas?”
After the collection failed to sell on ebay, Fred jumped at the opportunity and bought everything for an undisclosed amount. What followed would be a 3 year odyssey to gut the pub and decorate. However, Fred quickly realized that the 17k items bought from Bannister just wasn't enough to totally fill the space up.
Upon that horrible revelation, the newly appointed "Banana King" would take it upon himself to buy 500 more items from ebay, and a purchase a banana collection from a man in Mississippi. The obsession would snowball from there, and it is a habit that continues to grow every day.
