After the pineapple slip has been planted through holes made in the mulch paper, it grows to maturity in about a year and a half. Then, it bears, at intervals of six months, a total of about a dozen pines, by which time its life cycle is finished.
It seems to me that the market for this sort of thing would be…not large. I just can’t imagine many Hawaiian vacationers calling to their spouse…
“Honey, the luau starts at 6 o’clock! Until then, I’m going to find a beach chair by the pool and read. If you’re going out, could you drop by the gift shop in the lobby and see if they have any souvenir postcards that feature agricultural workers’ butts?”
suffer a mental and physical decline, esp. because of a broken heart. She thinks I am pining away from love.
(pine for) miss and long for the return of. I was pining for my boyfriend.
Origin: Old English pinian [(cause to) suffer,] of Germanic origin; related to Dutch pijnen, German peinen ‘experience pain,’ also to obsolete pine [punishment]; ultimately based on Latin poena ‘punishment.’
Here are two examples of turn-of-the-century postcard humor. Both feature a gentleman pining for a loved one and in both cases he’s got a pineapple for a head. Get it? Pining? Pineapple? The wordplay is genius. Genius, I tell you. And what’s funnier than a guy with a pineapple for a head?
“I’m Crazy Pineapple-Head! And I want some candy! I don’t have a normal head, I got a pineapple growing out of it! Now, give me some crazy candy! Ow-ooo, this pineapple makes me crazy!”
But would someone…anyone…care to explain that second example to me? “I’m no Indian but I do pine for you?”
Sure, the pineapple originated in the New World, but by the turn of the century the pineapple was most often associated with the South Pacific and the Far East, so surely it can’t be referring to Native Americans. Yet the Republic of India has never been a major producer of pineapples, so what other explanation is there?
It makes about as much sense as…
I’m no Lithuanian but I’ve bean missing you.
…or…
I’m no British North Bornean but I’m plum out of patience with your absence.
One of Hawaii’s big crops is pineapples, appropriately called “the King of Fruits, by Nature Crowned.”
My initial response to seeing this postcard was, “What are leaders of the Free German Youth doing picking pineapples in Hawaii?”
But after taking a closer look I realized it was most likely just a promotional shot from the never-released made-for-TV movie, Miss Hathaway Takes A Holiday.
These decals were placed on Maui Pineapple Co. vehicles in the 1960s to identify them for entry into the pineapple cannery complex. The decal color was changed to orange in 1970.
