Those bananas aren't "split", they're coin-sliced, and there isn't much banana in any of those dishes. Also, that looks like marshmallow cream on top instead of whipped cream. Is that some kind of rationing version of a banana split?

Around 1950 an ice cream shop in my neighborhood had a banana split called Pig's Delight. It was served in a wood container shaped like a trough and upon finishing the treat you were presented with a badge saying "I was a pig -- I finished the Pig's Delight." Days gone by indeed.

It was a big deal for us just to go out for a cone instead of having my mom dig into the large pail, ice cream smearing her forearms, to dole out individual cones at home. A banana split at an ice cream joint would have been unthinkable, an impossible expense.

I'm from Chicago, and at the Dairy Queen my parents took my sister and I to sometimes for a treat, the banana splits had three scoops of vanilla ice cream, and each scoop had a different topping each; hot fudge, strawberry sauce, and pineapples. My sister would eat the scoop with hot fudge, and being the oldest, I got the two remaining scoops with the fruit toppings.

That was fine by me — she got the bananas. I never did like them.

Splits had three ice creams -- vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. But their toppings could be different depending on the region. I remember strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce, vanilla with pineapple and chocolate ice cream with strawberry sauce. Never really cared for the bananas, though the whipped cream and the cherry were nice. My mom watched me eat it while having a limeade.

In 1942-1945, we dreamed of having a banana split. But the same price would buy seven kids a cone at 5 cents each.