Banana bread first became a standard feature of American cookbooks with the popularization of baking soda and baking powder in the 1930s, appears in Pillsbury’s 1933 Balanced Recipes cookbook,and later gained more acceptance with the release of the original Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book in 1950. The origin of the first banana bread recipe is unknown, though some speculate it was originated in the 18th century by housewives experimenting with pearlash. The home baking revival of the 1960s and the simplicity of its recipe led to an explosion in banana bread’s popularity.