Are Pineapples A Dirty Little Secret?

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A few days ago I posted a picture of this really cool pineapple lamp on Instagram:

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Isn’t it totally adorbs? Looks great in my little corner. Well later that night an old college friend texted me to call her that she had something funny to tell me. Curiosity killed the kitty so I called her and she started off the convo by laughing. So then I started laughing. WHY were we laughing? Finally she regained control and asked me if I knew the meaning behind the pineapple.

I said of course I do! It’s the symbol of Hospitality and Welcoming! All good southerners should have pineapples in their homes. But apparently NOT on the front porch! My friend, who didn’t want me to use her name, (LOL) said her hubby bought her a nice piece of jewelry with a pineapple on it. A friend told her that meant she was a SWINGER! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! I promise I am not making this up! I was like, what the actual hell?

Apparently there are rumors and ‘wives’ tales about this (get it? Wives tales?). If you find a pineapple on your porch in the morning it means one of your neighbors wants to swing with you. Take a minute. Go ahead. Right???????????? I couldn’t stop thinking about all my neighbors. NOT ONE WOULD I SWING WITH> lol. Not. One.

So I googled it. I google everything but this was hilarious. Everything from placing an upside down pineapple in your grocery cart  to hanging one on your mailbox means you are looking to swing. Ain’t nobody in the Food Lion I want to talk to much less swing with. It reminded me of the time at a recent family gathering where someone said they thought it was legal to marry a first cousin in North Carolina. While we were all laughing I was looking around at all my cousins going, “NOPE”.

So while this is probably just rumor, I can’t look around my house at the pineapple décor and not laugh now. Thanks to my good friend. We had a great laugh and it reminded me of why I am so glad we became friends back in college. She made me laugh then too.

**If you are looking for some great pineapple products (for swingers and non-swingers alike) Check out my Amazon Storefront! Just click on the Picture:

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Off to the grocery store to hunt and gather. I may just toss in a pineapple, upside down, in my cart to see if I get any strange looks….lol

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58 responses to “Are Pineapples A Dirty Little Secret?”

  1. I’ve recently discovered that over here, in the 70s, having a pampas grass plant in your front garden was apparently the sign of ‘swinging’. If I think back to the 70s, my memory tells me that said plant was VERY popular, and resided in most front gardens. My parents’ included. That’s not an image I want in my head… 🙂

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  5. Holy crap we have pineapples everywhere here but not one person has left one on our doorstep. How insulting! I will now go and collect all the pineapples in the house and hide them very carefully.

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  6. HILARIOUS!!!! We have friends who are into that (we are not) and I may have to forward this to her! Will forever giggle at pineapples and rethink my whole new bathroom design. Which was going to be all pineapples!

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  8. This is actually true. Me & my husband are Swingers. I’m not sure why a Pineapple was chosen to be a symbol for Swingers but it was. You will see people wearing Pineapple jewelry, clothes & even getting tattoos etc… You will also find people wearing a black band on their right hand to show they are swingers. Incase many of you don’t know there are millions of Swingers in the US alone & even more in other countries. It’s a whole new definition to marriage one that some could never imagine but if tried would never look back. So keep a look out for those Pineapples & black rings you may be surprised to find some of your coworkers are Swingers 😈

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  9. This is 100% true. Swingers don’t refer to themselves as swingers they say ” we are in the lifestyle” and the upside down pineapple is a symbol for that “lifestyle”. My wife and I have been in the lifestyle for a little over a year and are in many facebook groups with names like pineapple friends … party like a pineapple… the upside down pineapple group….

    We also call those who are not in the lifestyle “vanilla” so if you hear anyone say oh we are going to a vanilla bar tonight or that couple is very vanilla they are referring to the bar or that couple being for straight lace folks that don’t swap partners .. I hope that answers any questions ya had

    Also couples who like to swap allot of times will make a joint facebook page. With both names or both people’s initials to try to keep their secret life private from their work and familes… so if you see a joint facebook account it may not mean that someone is super jealous but actually just the opposite…

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  12. Ok, so I have to weigh in. Never heard about it being for swingers but… I did research why sooooo many Southerners decorate with pineapples after our first visit to Savannah and Charleston… Apparently in colonial American times fruit of any kind was very expensive and hard to come by, so to display fresh fruit on your table was a sign of wealth and status. Pineapples, because of their size (being among the biggest and most ‘pretentious’ so to speak of the fruits) became the centerpieces of most Southern dinner tables, and then the decorating styles sorta grew from there… It is HILARIOUS, however, that this has now become associated with ‘the lifestyle’… I love it! and I LOVE the pineapple lamp, almost bought on myself when we were in Savannah. Hmmm, kind of regret it now 😉

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  13. Funny article! It reminds me of the trend that I’ve seen as of late with Unicorns 🦄 … see them everywhere. Of course I’m the world of vanillas, it means something entirely different from the world of the “lifestyle”.
    So whenever I see a unicorn 🦄 something or another.. I giggle.. if they only knew 😆

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  14. On a recent trip to key west we went on a tour, and the tour guide brought up that in the pirate days of the islands, if a woman wanted a pirate to come to their home while hubby was gone she would put a pineapple on the porch.

    I have always loved the fruit and during my college days in Hawaii learned that having a ripe one on hand after a night of partying will help cure a hangover if eaten, made into a shake, etc. the following morning. Love me some pineapple. 🙂

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  15. It’s not so much to “hunt”, but just to advertise to other swingers that you are as well! My entire decor is pineapples, most things can’t be turned upside down but everything that can is!

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  16. Absolutely it does…I am a swinger and it highly advertises that!! My entire house is decorated in pineapples, and all that I can turn upside I do….swinger sites are abound with them! Also Unicorns are a highly sought after thing in the swinger circles….they indicate a Single Bisexual Female, therefore they are rare and admired as mythical creature….however they are not at all rare in our circles!!

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  17. I have to say, I’m laughing so hard at this because I am sadly planning a celebration of life for my father who recently passed and I found a table runner with a pineapple I was going to use on his urn table as he was always welcoming and warm to everyone. Part of me thinks now I can’t do it and the other part of me thinks it would be a riotous sendoff (not so funny to his devoted wife of 36 years…). Decisions decisions

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  18. This is actually true!! Went to a concert with some friends and their teenage kids. One of them wore a pineapple tank. Hes only 16 but looks 25 because of his beard and tattoo. He was hit on by SO many different women of a certain age!!! The moms were hysterical, the teenagers were hysterial except for one. He was mortified!!

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  23. OMG!! This post had me in stitches!! I never knew that about pineapples or unicorns. I call my beloved my unicorn because he is my one of a kind match. I thought that was what unicorns represented, but I guess that they can also have another meaning. I used to have a pineapple lamp and mom embroidered pineapple pillow tops, but I am sure she never knew either. We always looked at them as being welcoming. I guess in another sense of the word, they do mean welcome and welcome some more! ROFL Thanks for posting this! You made my day!

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  24. One of the best stories I’ve heard about this whole thing!
    I’m definitely going to try both ways just to see what happens! My wife would never go for something like that but, she’s got a great sense of humor!
    Sounds like you have a great best friend!

    Thanks, William

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  25. There is another symbol you didn’t mention here:
    The swinger symbol “The swing” has been opted by the swinger community to identify each other in public on wristbands and accessories since years. “Red” represents “Passion”, “Love” and “Stimulation”. “Black” shows “mystery”, “limits” and “secrecy”. The abstract “swing” represents the “swinging lifestyle”. The “circle” is associated with the “group” and the “community” sharing the same interests and the strong “bond” in couples. You can find the symbol on Wikimedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swinger_Symbol_05.png

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  26. Haha! I cant WAIT to tell my little old black neighbor lady who gave me my first pineapple plant that she wants to swing with me. She’s gunna laugh so hard. That being said I was taught by a family from Hawaii that growing a pineapple at the front door is a sign of hospitality but it looks like other regions have their own versions.

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  28. Very funny,,,especially since I waa out riding my bicycle around my subdivision and saw 🍍 pineapples growing in a couple of front yards,,,,so lasf week I planted 2 out front 🤣🤗

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