Just curious. Once my wife and I noticed this, it seems like it comes up every single time someone is in the hospital in a British TV series. Plus, we see regular stories on other sites with Brits saying something like, “My Mum was in hospital, so my son and I were buying some flowers and grapes for her.”
Please note that I have absolutely no issues with buying grapes for hospitalized people, but it does seem a bit peculiar to this non-Brit. A fruit basket? Sure. My wife would want bananas.
The only context I can think of for bringing grapes as a gift in English literature was a nobleman sending grapes from his personal hothouse as a luxury (possibly out of season?).
Maybe there’s a perception that grapes are easy to digest for an invalid.
If they took them somewhere else, they wouldn’t be able to eat them.
More thoughtful than the alternative of hard boiled eggs and nuts
Well, there are no peels to deal with.
Easy to handle, hassle-free, you can snack on a bunch of grapes over a longer period, and you can share them with hospital staff. And then, at some point, it turned into a tradition that people continue just for the tradition, with no particular logic behind it.
Hmm, that helps explain a comment on the Beatles’ Live at the BBC album, which contains some on-air banter. If I recall correctly, they mention that Ringo has been in hospital, and John says in a funny voice, “We brought you the flowers. And the grapes!”
Being fruit, they look more “healthy” than sweets, and traditionally a special treat. A whole fruit basket would be a bit ostentatious and leaves more debris and clutter.
I’m definitely ordering grapes if I go to the hospital.
At this point it’s a cliché, I’m not sure many people actually take grapes to hospital visits, but it does make sense in being a healthy snack that’s easy to handle and digest, and doesn’t create debris for staff to deal with.
So y’all don’t give grapes on the vine?
“Fruit baskets” are not a thing in the UK.
Most people rarely visit hospital patients, but feel that it’s expected to not arrive empty-handed, so what do you take? Chocolates, alcohol etc are obviously out, so fruit is a good choice.
So, what fruit? Apples can be tricky, especially for older patients. Better avoid fruit that needs peeling, so no oranges or bananas. Grapes are cheap, readily available and easy to eat.
I imagine they’re also easier to share with the other 20 people in your room.
We do! But a little twig is less messy than a banana skin or orange peel
Alcohol I see, but why no chocolate? Because that’s what I use to bring and often got brought when I was in a hospital.
Because you’re in hospital and supposed to be working on getting better! So eating healthy food.
But of course, grapes are not compulsory, or even that common, despite the trope. My Dad favoured chocolate biscuits.
Yeah, compared to larger fruits and/or fruits that need peeling or leave a core or stone, grapes are really simple - you eat as many as you want and when you’ve had enough, you stop - and what remains is only the stalk and some more intact grapes for later - no sticky hands, no waste to dispose of, no chance of wasting any by preparing more than you find you can eat.
Imagine if the convention was watermelon…
My daughter (a nurse) worked in an inner city hospital in Virginia in the OB department. It was very common to find empty Courvoisier bottles in rooms. Technically grapes I guess, but more processed.
Mitch Hedberg: “I saw a wino eating grapes. I was like, ‘Dude, you have to wait.’”
The song A Thousand Little Downers by Bell X1 (A wonderful band from Ireland) has this lyric:
When you’re poorly
I’ll bring you flowers and grapes,
Flowers and grapes
When you’re poorly
And eat them myself
One more little downer