Paulf wrote: ↑Fri Jun 14, 2024 8:55 am This is what the definition’s always were as I remember it: cantaloupe are a European melon that are rarely sold in the U.S. Almost every melon sold in the U.S. are actually muskmelons, but due to marketing people not liking the name “muskmelon” began calling the American versions cantaloupe because it sounded more pleasing. The name stuck so we all buy and even grow cantaloupes. The process is much like the marketing people decided tomatoes need to be round, red and tasteless, to fit what is grown on commercial tomato farms. My father and his family always called the melons they grew and we all ate, “muskmelons”. As a grocer when selling produce we always sold cantaloupe not muskmelons. We Joined in the misnomer.

Their fans are dedicated and at times famous. In 1864, in exchange for copies of his published works, Alexandre Dumas (author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, among other classics) requested 12 melons a year for life. He enjoyed a total of 72 perfectly ripe Cavaillon melons before his death in 1870.