Bill Sutherland, a Company headquarters lawyer in Boston, on temporary duty in Puerto Armuelles and Panama City, and his wife, Edna Mae, were close friends of ours. We had several common interests, among them pre-Colombian history of Central America and…
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***If you missed the previous installments, click on the links here: 1928: Part 1, 1928: Part 2, 1928: Part 3, 1928: Part 4, 1929:Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10 Regressing a little, Sigatoka (Cercospora musae), a leaf spot disease of bananas,…
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***If you missed the previous installments, click on the links here: 1928: Part 1, 1928: Part 2, 1928: Part 3, 1928: Part 4, 1929:Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9 With a servant and an occasional baby sitter in the house, Harriet and I…
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The lighter-hand system of loading ships was used for about two years until a new wharf and conveyors had been built. All planning and reconstruction work, even down to deep-sea divers, was done by Company personnel – local and transfer…
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In the summer of 1932, with savings of about $300, I went on vacation, flying to Panama City and taking a Company ship from Cristobal, via Kingston, Jamaica, where it loaded bananas, to New York. The ship was filled up…
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I missed the exciting life on the woodland farm but with the ‘untouched jungle’ so close to town I could still enjoy the pleasures of nature with weekend walks into the forest. Just looking out of a second-story window alone…
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Republic of Panama president, Juan Carlos Varela, visits the first banana fincas in January 2019, which will have production of bananas for Del Monte to export in February. Progress is finally happening! Video courtesy of 100% Porteños Subscribe today to get…
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President Juan Carlos Varela recently visited the banana fincas just north of Puerto Armuelles, to see the new little bananas ripening on the plants. They take about one month to mature, so in February, Del Monte is expected to export the…
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Part 6: Move to Puerto Armuelles By this time Puerto Armuelles had become the division headquarters and, like all company towns, it included most of the amenities for a comfortable home and family life for the employees living there. The…
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Part 5: The Transition in 1929 Just as I was finishing the planting of Guacimo farm in late 1929 the railroad arrived in Esperanza and that was the end of the “good life” on a woodland Farm. ***If you missed…
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