United Fruit Company stock certificate 1970 (New Jersey) 

Chiquita bananas! Stunning triple vignettes features a seated classical female seated among various agricultural scenes at the center. At the left is a great vignette of a banana tree and, at the right, is a steamer ship (banana boat!) at sea. Issued and punch hole cancelled at the bottom. Dated 1970. Approximately 12 x 8 inches.

Amazing history. Also see our listing for the Chiquita Brands International! 

The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 from the merger of the Boston Fruit Company with Minor C. Keith's banana-trading enterprises. It flourished in the early and mid-20th century, and it came to control vast territories and transportation networks in Central America, the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and the West Indies. Although it competed with the Standard Fruit Company (later Dole Food Company) for dominance in the international banana trade, it maintained a virtual monopoly in certain regions, some of which came to be called banana republics – such as Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala.

In 1871, U.S. railroad entrepreneur Henry Meiggs signed a contract with the government of Costa Rica to build a railroad connecting the capital city of San José to the port of Limón in the Caribbean. Meiggs was assisted in the project by his young nephew, Minor C. Keith, who took over Meiggs's business concerns in Costa Rica after his death in 1877. Keith began experimenting with the planting of bananas as a cheap source of food for his workers. When the Costa Rican government defaulted on its payments in 1882, Keith had to borrow £1.2 million from London banks to continue the engineering project. In exchange for this and for renegotiating Costa Rica's debt, in 1884, the administration agreed to give Keith 800,000 acres of tax-free land along the railroad.

United Fruit Company history began in 1870, when a ship's captain, named Lorenzo Dow Baker, purchased 160 bunches of bananas in Jamaica, and resold them in Jersey City, eleven days later. In 1873, Central American railroad developer Minor C. Keith began to experiment with banana production in Costa Rica. Later, he planted bananas alongside a Costa Rican railroad track to provide revenue for the railroad. In 1878, Baker partnered with Andrew Preston to form the Boston Fruit Company.

United Fruit Company was founded in 1899, when the Boston Fruit Company and various fruit exporting concerns controlled by Keith merged. In 1903, United Fruit Company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1944, the company premiered the "Chiquita Banana" advertising jingle, which extolled the virtues of the fruit as well as when to eat them and how to store them. The song, which had an infectious calypso beat, began with the words "I'm Chiquita Banana, and I've come to say."

In 1966 United Fruit acquired J. Hungerford Smith Company, owner of A&W Root Beer. In 1970, the company merged with AMK Corporation and changed its name to United Brands Company. AMK owned the meatpacker John Morrell & Co. In 1971 United Brands formed a wholly owned subsidiary, A&W Distributing Co., to retail A&W Root Beer. In 1990, the company renamed itself Chiquita Brands International, as it undertook major investments in Costa Rica. However, the company began to see a decline in Honduran operations during the first half of 1990. As a result, Chiquita initiated the "Banana Wars" with rival company Fyffes over the limited banana supply. In March 2014, Chiquita Brands International and Fyffes announced that their boards of directors had unanimously approved a merger agreement.

Product descriptions and images
Please note that some pictures may only be representative of the inventory available.  If we have more than one piece, we are unable to scan and display every piece.  Unless otherwise noted, that there are variations for signatures, cancellation marks/holes, serial number, and dates.  Colors will be as noted and pictured.