James Dole

Entrepreneur

Birthday September 27, 1877

Birth Sign Libra

Birthplace Boston, MA

DEATH DATE May 20, 1958 (80)

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About

Pineapple King of Hawaii who established the eponymous pineapple company that later became the Dole Food Company.

Before Fame

He studied agriculture at Harvard, after which he saved up money to buy a 64-acre farm in Hawaii where he began growing pineapples.

Trivia

His national ads for pineapples developed the first American market for the fruit, and his business took off after he obtained a machine that could peel and core 35 of them every minute.

Family Life

His cousin Sanford B. Dole governed Hawaii at the time James moved there to start his farm on the island of Honolulu.

Associated With

He and George Hormel, another founder of his own self-named food company, both forever changed American tastes and diets.