The Mango Cult

History

Just stumbled onto the page for the Mango Cult... it is absolutely wild. In 1968, Mao gave some Pakistani mangoes to factory workers, and it somehow spiraled into a nationwide craze... the fruit became sacred relics. They were even preserved in wax to act as symbols of the leader's love. It's just... the sheer absurdity of a piece of fruit becoming a state sanctioned icon is fascinating. Definitely a great rabbit hole for anyone into the weird side of history... maybe link this to other Cultural Revolution articles. But it makes me wonder... since they were using wax for preservation, did they actually manage to stop the organic decomposition, or were they just worshipping wax shells around rotting fruit?

Source

The time Mao Zedong accidentally started a fruit cult