Watermelon is often thought of as a particularly American food. Although Americans do seem to have a special fondness for the fruit, we do not have a unique claim to it by any means. Actually, watermelon has been grown since prehistoric times and has been known worldwide for centuries. Archeological evidence shows the Egyptians were cultivating watermelon more than 5,000 years ago. Watermelons appear in ancient Egyptian wall paintings; its seeds and leaves have been found in Egyptian tombs.

      For years, though, scientists did not know where watermelons first grew. Guesses included parts of Africa, southern Asia, India, and Italy, and there was ample evidence to support all of these possible origins. Historically, watermelons were cultivated in countries along the Mediterranean trade routes, but the genecenter (the place where a plant originated and can be found growing in the wild) had never been located.

      The origin of the watermelon vine wasn't settled until the 1850s, when missionary and explorer David Livingstone came on the vine growing wild in the Kalahari desert: “But the most surprising plant of the Desert is the ‘Kengwe’ or ‘Keme’ (Cucumis caffer), the watermelon. In years when more than the usual quantity of rain falls, vast tracts of the country are literally covered with these melons” (Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa).

      Another English explorer, Major Edward Keith-Roach, who mapped in Africa in the early 1900s, made this same discovery, reporting that watermelons saved his life. During a drought he relied on watermelons as his sole source of water for a six-week period, suffering little ill effect. He did feel compelled to note, however, that tea made using strained watermelon juice was “sheer nastiness” (National Geographic, January 1924).

      Despite its early cultivation records in the Americas, early explorers and African slaves are credited with distributing watermelon seeds widely throughout the eastern part of North America, the West Indies, and Brazil. In the United States most African slaves were settled in the Southern colonies, where the soil and climate also proved the most conducive for growing the fruit. Perhaps this is why for many years watermelons were associated stereotypically with rural, Southern blacks. In fact, watermelons are so inexpensive they always have been a tasty summer treat both blacks and whites, no matter how poor, could afford—even during the worst years of the Depression. One Southern nickname for a watermelon is “Depression ham.”

      Today, watermelons are firmly implanted in American lives and literature. Watermelon imagery appears everywhere from truckstop slot machines to sequined lapels on designer clothing. Watermelons also have a major role in advertising and merchandising. Look around and you soon will see all kinds of products that look or taste like watermelons—erasers, magnets, placemats, candles, soda pop, night lights, sponges, ice cream rolls, cups, napkins, napkin holders, T-shirts, and tea towels—in every medium imaginable.

     So why not get started? Continue your journey into the wonderful world of Watermelon right here.

© 2001 by Ellen Ficklen