Previous                 Philately Goes Bananas                 Next Guadeloupe According to Banane de Guadeloupe & Martinique bananas were used as a shade crop on coffee and cacao plantations until a hurricane destroyed those crops in 1928. Bananas, with their short growth cycle, were then widely adopted as a replacement crop. Date of Issue: 1947 Design: Gathering Bananas Series: Air Post Pictorial Definitives Previous                                                Next Return to the Banana Stamps from Around the World Index Page.