The Banana Splits elephant. Fleegle would assume the role of leader of the Banana Splits, and preside at club meetings. The characters were played by actors in voluminous fleecy costumes, similar to later Sid and Marty Krofft characters such as "H.R. Pufnstuf". While Snorky "spoke" in honking noises, the other three spoke in English—Drooper with a Southern drawl in the manner of Michael Nesmith, and Fleegle with a pronounced lisp. The Splits' segments, including songs-of-the-week and comedy skits, served as wraparounds for a number of individual segments. In the second season, "The Three Musketeers" segments were replaced with repeats of "The Hillbilly Bears",
History of modern banana plantations in the Americas economies of the countries in which they operated. Since banana exports came to dominate the overseas trade and most of the foreign exchange earnings of Central American countries, and the companies could use their financial clout as well as carefully established connections with local elites, they had great influence over politics in those areas, leading O. Henry, who lived in Honduras (which he called "Anchuria") in 1896-97 to coin the term banana republic for them. Company influence was buttressed both by their willingness to hire mercenaries as paramilitary forces and to involve the United States government in military interventions when