# How Did Watermelon Get Associated With African Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419 "2004-11-12T18:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/21 "2004-11-14T22:14:45Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I figured it was southern. Blacks migrated out of the south, carrying with them southern (not specifically black, just southern) food preferences, and people from urban northern areas first became exposed to these things by seeing black folks consuming them. Except ‘white folk’ had been enjoying watermelons in the North since the early 1600’s. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/22 "2004-11-14T22:27:11Z")
**samclem.** Where ‘up North’ is watermelon grown in any abundance? However readily available it was in the circa 1600 you cite, I find it hard to believe it grew as widely or in great numbers until southern-bred African slaves started incorporated it in their diet. The class divide of enslaved blacks eating watermelon alone would ensure that most Northern whites and prosperous southern whites wouldn’t touch the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/23 "2004-11-14T22:27:42Z")
Strange… I remember this being addressed once (don’t remember where) when someone asked a question about the history of the term “watermelon man.” I only vaguely recall it (it was in some publication, a long time ago) and it went through a great lot of detail explaining the factual history behind “watermelon man.” Hm. I’ll see what I can find. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/24 "2004-11-14T22:45:12Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **samclem.** Where ‘up North’ is watermelon grown in any abundance? However readily available it was in the circa 1600 you cite, I find it hard to believe it grew as widely or in great numbers until southern-bred African slaves started incorporated it in their diet. I think you’d be amazed how widespread watermelon cultivation in Northern States was prior to the Civil War. > [@](#): > > The class divide of enslaved blacks eating watermelon alone would ensure that most Northern whites and prosperous southern whites wouldn’t touch the stuff. Not sure what you’re basing your opinion on, but Northerners of all stripes ate watermelon freely before the Civil War, going back to the 1600’s. Just as a quick cite, I found a newspaper article from the 1840’s which described a farmer outside of Rochester, NY, who grew fruits and veggies for the Rochester market. He had two acres of watermelons under cultivation. Of course, he could have just been growing them for the black population of Rochester, I suppose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/25 "2004-11-14T23:39:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Years later, I read an article about a guy who was convicted of some minor offense and had to work on cleanup crews as part of his community service, different neighborhoods every week. His trash pickup in black vs. white neighborhoods was interesting: White neighborhoods, Coke and Budweiser cans, Marlboro packages. Black neighborhoods: Orange Nehi and King Cobra cans and Kool Milds packages. This also is economic. I don’t check prices much for alcohol or cigarettes, and I’m not familiar with Nehi, but I presume that the “black” products there are all lower in price? Furthermore, I’m guessing that what the cleanup guy was seeing as “black neighborhoods” would be more accurately described as “poor neighborhoods”. It should hardly be a surprise that folks living in poorer neighborhoods tend to buy cheaper products. And, of course, advertising just reinforces this: If suburbanites are disinclined to buy Kools, then Kool is obviously not going to target their advertising at them. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/26 "2004-11-15T00:36:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Watermelon and “soul food” both are the foods of the poor, rural south, black and white. The book _Albion’s Seed_ went into some detail on the origin of soul food. Interestingly, the author makes the case that much of what we think of as lower-class Southern food was actually brought over by nobility from the southeast of England, and that the nobles who settled Virginia and the Carolinas would have eagerly consumed fried chicken with a “mess of greens”, and have some “mushmellion” for desert (with both terms in quotes coming from the dialect of SE England). ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/27 "2004-11-15T01:21:36Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I think you’d be amazed how widespread watermelon cultivation in Northern States was prior to the Civil War. Yeah, I might. Watermelons just never struck me as a popular or widespread Northern food source in the 17th-19th centuries. The Southern and Southwestern climate favors watermelon growth, and it’s not like I’ve seen woodcuts of New England kids digging into a watermelon rind. If you have any cites otherwise, please share. > [@](#): > > Not sure what you’re basing your opinion on, but Northerners of all stripes ate watermelon freely before the Civil War, going back to the 1600’s. I’d been taught that most aspects of slave cuisine were actively avoided by whites in South and North as slavery became more institutionalized, esp. among the privileged classes – that unless you were a poor white person in the South, your culinary options were far more open and you simply would not dine on the same por quality cuts of beef and pork, use the same seasonings, and often avoided many of the kinds of fruits and vegetables and overall culinary dishes that slaves ate. The best cuts of meat, the finest wines, the best preserves, the freshest baked goods, well-to-do whites ate. Some dishes, like cornbread, grits, buttermilk, peach cobbler, etc., become southern staples of regardless of ethnicity. But Chitterlings? Neck Bones? Ox Tails? Kale? Turnip Greens? Collards? Peanuts? Watermelons? Okra? Black food. (NOTE: this does not apply to 17th century white settlers but their descendants a generation or two later.) I was led to believe watermelon eating among white Americans, esp, as a July 4th staple, is largely a 20th century phenomenon. You must admit that even today when you see watermelons on American TV and movies they aren’t being eaten by whites-- they’re being used as props to smash with giant mallets and speeding cars. IMO, I also think that watermelon consumption by blacks may be down from where it was a generation or two ago. I only base this tidbit on how my older relatives devour watermelons at every family reunion I’ve been to the last five years and the younger folks tend not to eat as much. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/28 "2004-11-15T02:19:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This also is economic. I don’t check prices much for alcohol or cigarettes, and I’m not familiar with Nehi, but I presume that the “black” products there are all lower in price? Furthermore, I’m guessing that what the cleanup guy was seeing as “black neighborhoods” would be more accurately described as “poor neighborhoods”. It should hardly be a surprise that folks living in poorer neighborhoods tend to buy cheaper products. And, of course, advertising just reinforces this: If suburbanites are disinclined to buy Kools, then Kool is obviously not going to target their advertising at them. No, King Cobra costs about the same as Budweiser, maybe more, but has more alcohol and it tastes rank. And KOOL Milds cost exactly the same as Marlboros. The menthol masks a nasty flavor. Orange Nehi costs about the same as Coke, maybe a little less. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/29 "2004-11-15T02:25:28Z")
More theories and information [in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=150886). ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/30 "2004-11-15T02:59:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Furthermore, I’m guessing that what the cleanup guy was seeing as “black neighborhoods” would be more accurately described as “poor neighborhoods”. Perhaps. But for quite a long time, and no less so today, neighborhoods of all stripes in most areas tend to be heavily racially segregated. In fact, neighborhoods comprising almost without exception black middle class families are quite common; people tend to still sort themselves by race and ethnicity. Of course, people also get sorted by others - real estate practices like redlining and selectively showing homes in black neighborhoods to black homebuyers are still quite common. Just thought I’d mention this. Race is not a non-issue, despite what we’d sorta like to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/31 "2004-11-15T09:41:35Z")
> [@](#): > > About ten years ago, some activists looked in askance at the malt liquor industry for marketing vile drinks to blacks and they wondered if there was some special lethal chemical ingredient targeted at the black demographic. Some pundit replied “Yes there is; it’s called more alcohol.” According to [www.bumwine.com](http://www.bumwine.com) there really is some kind of secret ingredient other than alcohol in these godawful concoctions! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/32 "2004-11-15T10:22:32Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > According to [www.bumwine.com](http://www.bumwine.com) there really is some kind of secret ingredient other than alcohol in these godawful concoctions! Nice site. While they suspect some of these brands contain antifreeze or rubbing alcohol, they don’t back this up with laboratory testing. Michael Jackson (The beer writer, not the singer with unfortunate predilictions) was on Conan O’Brien a few years ago and, presented with the vilest malt liquor commercially available, found a lump of sugar in it designed to boost the alcohol level. IIRC, he wouldn’t taste the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/33 "2004-11-15T14:48:36Z")
I can tell you that the stereotype is very old. There’s an old minstrel song called **“Watermelon Smilin’ on the Vine”** (presumably dating to the 19th century and covered by many bands over the years) about the joy of stealing watermelons. And I’m betting that’s part of the association. Watermelon patches are notoriously prone to theft, and I’m betting that when watermelons came up missing in oild times it usually got blamed on slaves living nearby. From that you get the minstrel song noted above and the image of black folks loving watermelons to the point of stealing them. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/34 "2004-11-15T14:58:48Z")
> [@Manda JO](#): > > Watermelon and “soul food” both are the foods of the poor, rural south, black and white. When waves of African-Americans fled the south post-reconstruction and settled in the big urban cities of the north and especially of the mid-west–Detroit, Chicago, etc–they did what every group does when they move to someplace with a signifigantly different cuisine–they missed the foods they grew up with and began to import them. White people in the north saw this food as being “black” and the stereotype entered mainstream culture, but I never saw that particular stereotype in the rural South, where everyone poor ate fried chicken, collard greens, pig’s feet, and yes, watermelon. That’s a really good point. Anytime I travel outside the South and see a so-called “soul food” restaurant I am reminded of this. “Soul food” is just Southern cooking. Poor folks in the South, black and white, ate the same things, just like **Manda Jo** says. But I suppose that up North these foods came to be associated with black people. These food stereotypes really must have originated in the North, since those stereotypes really don’t make much sense in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/35 "2004-11-15T15:11:46Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > I was led to believe watermelon eating among white Americans, esp, as a July 4th staple, is largely a 20th century phenomenon. I think you are incorrect in this assumption. Back in the day, desserts were a luxury unavailable to most, and watermelons were a nice substitute. I’m sure this has always been so, at least in the South. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419/36 "2004-11-15T16:46:56Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Where ‘up North’ is watermelon grown in any abundance? However readily available it was in the circa 1600 you cite, I find it hard to believe it grew as widely or in great numbers until southern-bred African slaves started incorporated it in their diet. Hi Askia. Granted, we’re not too terribly far “up north,” but you might be surprised to know watermelon grows very, very well in Colorado. It’s not limited so much by temperature as by photoperiod. And excepting that, the main problem with growing watermelon is water. The valley I now call home has an abundance of free water and is an ideal growing environment for watermelon and many other kinds of melons. Likewise, with fertile, loose soil and arguably millions of miles of waterways, just about any place in Ohio is well suited to growing watermelon. Along the banks of Lake Erie, for example. Much farther south, one of the largest modern watermelon farms in the Midwest used to be in Friendship, on the Ohio River near Portsmouth. But you asked about history. From Columbus, you might wish to take a quick drive down Route 33 – near Lithopolis is a notable, remnant lock of the Erie Canal, from which many of the abundant, heavy crops were loaded onto barges for export. In addition to its popular use in the canal system, Lithopolis was an important node on a fabled Underground Railroad passageway named “Coonpath”. Today, many of the farms along Coonpath Road still host pesky, wild “melon” vines\* that legendarily date back to the American Civil War. Even farther back in time, there existed in Ohio a great and varied group of agrarian people. Many of the waterways and cities are still named for them, like the Maumee, the Mohican and the Tuscarawas. In the 17th Century, the sweet melon would have been a novel and low-maintenance, introduced food crop. Here’s one little [cite](http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohc/history/h_indian/life/f&a.shtml): > [@](#): > > Ohio Indians grew many other vegetables, including turnips, cabbage, parsnips, sweet potatoes, yams, and onions and leeks. Europeans introduced the watermelon and muskmelon into North America in the seventeenth century, and Indians in the interior were growing these fruits within a few years. * * * - Without abundant water, many vine crops can, over the years become noxious pests. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-watermelon-get-associated-with-african-americans/274419.md?page=1)