Bronze Pineapple Clock Keeps Hospitality Time

Bronze Pineapple Clock Keeps Hospitality Time Am on a walking bing in Manhattan, which means that I stop every half block or so to photograph things that for the most part have been here since I was a kid. This bronze pineapple detail is from the fence around a museum my father took us to very often when we were kids. The pineapple is the ultimate symbol of hospitality and welcome: "On Columbus voyages to the new world, the native people he found this new fruit and what it meant to the natives, the Caribe. The pineapple symbolized hospitality, and the Spaniards soon learned they were welcome if a pineapple was placed by the entrance to a village. This symbolism spread to Europe, then to Colonial North America, where it became the custom to carve the shape of a pineapple into the columns at the entrance of a plantation.2 Seafaring captains used to impale fresh pineapples--souvenirs of their lengthy travels to tropical ports--atop the porch railings of their homes when they returned. It was a symbol then that the man of the house was home--albeit briefly--and receiving visitors.4 During early Colonial days in the United States, families would set a fresh pineapple in the center of the table as a colorful centerpiece of the festive meal, especially when visitors joined them in celebration. This symbolized the utmost in welcome and hospitality to the visitor, and the fruit would be served as a special desert after the meal." Source: http://www.mindspring.com/~sixcatpack/pineappl.htm