National Banana Split Day

I believe in holistic medicine, yoga, Pilates and so on. But I also believe in banana split sundaes once in a while.

Gwyneth Paltrow

In our opinion, this is easily one of the best parts of summer or any time of year where you like to indulge in an ice cream treat! It blends together the perfect flavor of bananas with the rich sweet flavor of the ice cream, topped with whipped cream, maraschino cherries, strawberries, hot fudge, and anything else your heart can imagine! National Banana Split Day celebrates this amazing treat and a perfect excuse to indulge in it!

Learn about National Banana Split Day

National Banana Split Day is exactly what you expect to be: it is a day to celebrate this amazing dessert. It gives you the perfect opportunity to tuck into this sweet treat. After all, who doesn’t love a delicious banana split? You can enjoy one of these desserts (or several) and you don’t need to feel guilty about it! Music to our ears. Have fun trying out your own banana split inventions. You won’t regret it!

Fun facts about banana splits

Did you know that there was a World Record set in Selinsgrove, PA, for the longest banana split? This stretched 4.5 miles, and it consisted of 33,000 bananas, as well as 150 gallons of chocolate and 2,500 gallons of ice cream.

The popularity of the banana split is often credited to Walgreens drug stores, which are operated by Charles Rudolph Walgreens. The store promoted the banana split as their premium dessert, which caused a lot of customers to try the dessert when they may have otherwise note been interested in it.

When banana splits first came onto the scene, they were sold for 10 cents. This may not seem like a lot of money. However, at the time, it was sold at twice the price of sundaes.

Health benefits of bananas

While bananas may be covered in cream and a few other bad things when enjoyed as a banana split, bananas themselves offer a number of different health benefits. This can make you feel better about eating a banana split! Bananas, for example, are an excellent source of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6, in turn, provides a number of great benefits. This helps us to maintain a healthy nervous system, remove unwanted chemicals from your kidneys and liver, metabolize amino acids, metabolize fats and carbohydrates, turning them into energy, and produce red blood cells.

The good news does not end there. There are a number of other benefits that are associated with bananas. This includes potassium, which meets around 10 percent of your potassium intake. It also contains manganese, which helps to protect your skin through the creation of collagen, as well as protecting other cells from free radical damage. Bananas are also a great source of vitamin C. Vitamin C supports brain health through the production of serotonin, which impacts our moods, sleep cycle, and experiences of pain and stress. Vitamin C helps your body produce collagen, absorb iron better, and protect your body against tissue and cell damage.

History of National Banana Split Day

The Banana Split, surprisingly, has a very definite history, and we can pinpoint its origins to one David Evans Stickler in 1904, where he was serving as an apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Like most pharmacies of the day, it had a soda fountain attached, and it was in this pharmacy that he invented the banana split, which quickly became a hit with the students at Saint Vincent College nearby. Word of mouth made it spread like wildfire, and it soon became an American institution, before going global.

In 2004 Latrobe hosted the 100th anniversary of the invention, the same year that it was certified as the birthplace of the banana split by NICRA (National Ice Cream Retailers Association). It also became the home of the Great American Banana Split Celebration, a huge event with food and events for everyone to take part in.

Of course, like with all great inventions, there is some contention about its origins (unless you ask NICRA). Wilmington, Ohio claims that it was invented there in 1907 in response to a slump in the ice cream business thanks to the winter season.

How to celebrate National Banana Split Day

Like we need to tell you how to celebrate National Banana Split Day! Grab yourself an entire bushel of bananas, split them and circle a bowl with them, and fill that puppy with ice cream! Then top with whipped cream, nuts, hot fudge, strawberry syrup, and anything else you can imagine, and sprinkle liberally with maraschino cherries.

A bit much? Alright, if you’re going to keep this deliciousness to yourself, maybe what you need is to enjoy it quietly at home. But for a special twist drizzle it with high proof alcohol and ignite it, because hot and cold are great companions.

Another fun way to celebrate National Banana Split Day is by gathering all of your loved ones and having a “banana split off.” You can all have fun creating different takes on this classic dessert. Make sure you have a range of different toppings available and allow people to go wild with their own banana split inventions. This is a great way to spend time with the people you love. After all, it is always fun to do something different, isn’t it?