Editing Big Apple

{{Short description|Nickname for New York City}}
{{for multi|the city itself|New York City|other uses|Big Apple (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
[[Image:Big-apple-corner.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Big Apple Corner at [[54th Street (Manhattan)|54th Street]] and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], in [[Manhattan]]'s [[Theater District, Manhattan|Theater District]]]]

"'''The Big Apple'''" is a [[Nicknames of New York City|nickname]] for [[New York City]]. It was first popularized in the 1920s by [[John J. Fitz Gerald]], a sportswriter for the ''[[The Morning Telegraph|New York Morning Telegraph]]''. Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by the New York tourist authorities.

== Origin ==
Although the history of "Big Apple" was once thought a mystery,<ref>[[Cecil Adams|Adams, Cecil]] (February 18, 1977) [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_382.html "Why is New York called the Big Apple?"], ''[[The Straight Dope]]''</ref> a clearer picture of the term's history has emerged due to the work of historian [[Barry Popik]],<ref>[[Barry Popik|Popik, Barry]] [http://www.barrypopik.com/ "The Big Apple"]. Research by Barry Popik and others with the text of contemporary examples.</ref> and Gerald Cohen of the [[Missouri University of Science and Technology]].<ref>Cohen, Gerald (1991) ''Origin of New York City's Nickname "The Big Apple"''. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang. {{ISBN|3-631-43787-0}}</ref> A number of false theories had previously existed,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/category/C10/| title = "False Etymologies"}}</ref> including a claim that the term derived from a woman named Eve who ran a brothel in the city.<ref name=salwen /> This was subsequently exposed as a hoax.<ref name=salwen>{{cite web|url=http://www.salwen.com/apple.html|title=Why Is New York City Called "The Big Apple"?|first=Peter|last=Salwen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19971010010804/http://www.salwen.com/apple.html|archive-date=October 10, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/big_apple_whore_hoax_1800s/| title = "Big Apple Whore Hoax (1800s!)"}}</ref>

The earliest known usage of "big apple" appears in the book ''The Wayfarer in New York'' (1909), in which [[Edward Sandford Martin]] writes: <blockquote>Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city ... It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap.<ref>{{Cite news | first = William | last = Safire | author-link = William Safire | title = Big Applesource | newspaper = [[The New York Times Magazine]] | date = September 17, 2000 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/17/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-9-17-00-on-language-slurvian.html?pagewanted=2}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | first = William | last = Safire | author-link = William Safire | title = The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time | year = 2004 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=blcCxBWVdzgC&pg=PA23&dq=big%20apple 23]| publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=9780743242448}}</ref></blockquote> [[William Safire]] considered this the coinage, but because the phrase is not quoted in the text, it is likely that it was used as a metaphor, and not as a nickname for the city.<ref name=gothamist>Hamilton, Alex (January 21, 2020) [https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/big-apple-nickname-origin-nyc-history "Where Did The Nickname 'The Big Apple' Come From?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122030521/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/big-apple-nickname-origin-nyc-history |date=January 22, 2020 }} ''[[Gothamist]]''</ref>

=== Horse racing origin ===
"The Big Apple" was popularized as a name for New York City by [[John J. Fitz Gerald]] in a number of horse-racing articles for the ''New York Morning Telegraph'' in the 1920s. The earliest of these was a casual reference on 3 May 1921:

{{Blockquote|J. P. Smith, with Tippity Witchet and others of the L. T. Bauer string, is scheduled to start for "the big apple" to-morrow after a most prosperous Spring campaign at Bowie and Havre de Grace.<ref>[http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/first_big_apple_may_3_1921/ "First 'Big Apple': May 3, 1921"].</ref>}}

Fitz Gerald referred to the "big apple" frequently thereafter.<ref>[http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/numerous_1920s_big_apple_citations_in_the_new_york_morning_telegraph/ Numerous 1920s “Big Apple” citations in the New York Morning Telegraph].</ref> He explained his use in a column dated February 18, 1924, under the headline "Around the Big Apple":

{{Blockquote|The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There's only one Big Apple. That's New York.<ref>[http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/first_big_apple_explanation_february_18_1924/ First “Big Apple” explanation: February 18, 1924]. See also the original article [http://www.barrypopik.com/images/FitzGerald1.gif image].</ref><ref name=gothamist />}}

Fitz Gerald reportedly first heard "The Big Apple" used to describe New York's racetracks by two African American stable hands at the New Orleans Fair Grounds.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Hutchinson, Sean|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/31841/why-new-york-city-called-big-apple|title=Why is New York City Called The Big Apple?|date=May 8, 2018|access-date=July 23, 2018}}</ref><ref name=gothamist /> Using racing records, Popik traced that conversation to January 1920.<ref name=gothamist />

In recognition of Fitz Gerald's role in promulgating "The Big Apple" as a nickname for New York City, in 1997 Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] signed legislation designating as "Big Apple Corner" the southwest corner of West [[54th Street (Manhattan)|54th Street]] and Broadway, the corner on which John J. Fitz Gerald lived from 1934 to 1963.<ref>[http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/97/sp082-97.html Mayor's Press Office, Release No. 082-97, Mayor Giuliani Signs Legislation Creating "Big Apple Corner" in Manhattan (Feb. 12, 1997)].</ref>  The Hotel Ameritania also once had a plaque which was installed in 1996, according to Popik, but it was removed during renovations to the building and was lost.<ref name=gothamist />

Evidence can also be found in the ''[[Chicago Defender]]'', an African-American newspaper that had a national circulation. Writing for the ''Defender'' on September 16, 1922, "Ragtime" Billy Tucker used the name "big apple" to refer to New York in a non-horse-racing context:

{{quote|I trust your trip to 'the big apple' (New York) was a huge success and only wish that I had been able to make it with you.<ref name="linguistlist_antedating_1920vaudeville">[http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0801D&L=ADS-L&P=R9794 "Big Apple" antedating] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220232332/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0801D&L=ADS-L&P=R9794 |date=February 20, 2008 }}; [http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/1920s_vaudeville_ragtime_big_apple_citations/ 1920s Vaudeville/Ragtime “Big Apple” Citations].</ref>}}

Tucker had also earlier used "big apple" as a reference to [[Los Angeles]]. It is possible that he simply used "big apple" as a nickname for any large city:

{{quote|Dear Pal, Tony: No, Ragtime Billy Tucker hasn't dropped completely out of existence, but is still in the 'Big Apple', Los Angeles.<ref name="linguistlist_antedating_1920vaudeville" />}}

== Popularity ==
By the late 1920s, New York writers other than Fitz Gerald were starting to use "Big Apple", and were using it in contexts other than horse racing.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/1920s_non_horseracing_big_apple_citations/| title = "1920s Non-Horseracing 'Big Apple' Citations"}}</ref> "The Big Apple" was a popular song<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/big_apple_song_by_bob_emmerich/| title = "'Big Apple""song by Bob Emmerich"}}</ref> and [[Big Apple (dance)|dance]]<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/big_apple_in_the_1930s_two_clubs_plus_song_and_dance/| title = "'Big Apple' in the 1930s (Two clubs, plus song and dance)"}}</ref><ref>The dance was mentioned by name by [[Mickey Rooney]] in the 1938 movie ''[[Love Finds Andy Hardy]]''.</ref> in the 1930s.  Jazz musicians in the 1930s also contributed to the use of the phrase to refer to New York City,<ref>Zimmer, Ben (January 2, 2020) [https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-big-apple-new-yorks-nickname-via-new-orleans-and-the-red-delicious-11577991162 "'The Big Apple': New York’s Nickname, via New Orleans and the 'Red Delicious'"] ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''</ref> specifically to the city and [[Harlem]] as the jazz capital of the world.<ref name=enc-nyc>Cohen, Gerald Leonard "Big Apple" in {{cite enc-nyc2|page=125}}</ref> Beside the song and the dance, two nightclubs in the city used "Big Apple" in their names.<ref name=gothamist />

[[Walter Winchell]] and other writers continued to use the term in the 1940s and early 1950s,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/big_apple_in_the_1940s_1950s/| title = "'Big Apple' in the 1940s-1950s"}}</ref> but by the late 1950s, if it was known at all,<ref name=enc-nyc /> it had come to be considered an outdated nickname for New York.<ref>[[Kurt Vonnegut|Vonnegut, Kurt]] (1969) ''Slaughterhouse-Five'' New York: Dell Publishing. p.207. Quote: "New York." / "The Big Apple." / "Hm?" / "That's what they used to call New York." / "Oh."</ref>

In the early 1970s, however, during [[New York City fiscal crisis|the city's fiscal crisis]], "People were looking around desperately and some of them seized that old phrase the Big Apple to remind people of when New York had been a strong and powerful city and might become that again," according to the official Manhattan Borough Historian, Dr. Robert Snyder.  It was then that the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau &ndash; now [[NYC & Company|"NYC Tourism + Conventions"]], New York City's official marketing and tourism organization &ndash; with the help of the [[Ogilvy & Mather]] advertising firm,<ref name=gothamist /> began to promote the city's "Big Apple" nickname to tourists,<ref>[http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=20 About NYC and Company] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012224809/http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=20 |date=October 12, 2007 }}.</ref> under the leadership of its president, Charles Gillett.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/big_apple_1970s_revival_charlie_gillett_and_lew_rudin/| title = "Big Apple 1970s Revival: Charlie Gillett and Lew Rudin"}}</ref><ref name=enc-nyc /> The campaign was a success,<ref name=gothamist /> and the nickname has remained popular since then.<ref name=voa>{{cite news|author=Staff|url=http://www1.voanews.com/a-23-2009-12-24-voa2-84659432.html|title=Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for New York City|date=February 23, 2010|work=[[Voice of America]]|access-date=March 2, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413182642/http://www1.voanews.com/a-23-2009-12-24-voa2-84659432.html|archive-date=April 13, 2010|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Citi Field Home Run Apple 2012.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The [[New York Mets]] [[Home Run Apple]] located in [[Citi Field]]]]

Today, the name is used exclusively to refer to New York City, and is used with regularity by journalists and news headline writers across the English-speaking world.<ref>{{cite web|author=McGeough, Paul|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbulls-big-day-out-in-the-big-apple-ahead-of-donald-trump-meeting-20170504-gvyxkq.html|title=Malcolm Turnbull's big day out in the Big Apple ahead of Donald Trump meeting|date=May 5, 2017|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Trejos, Nancy|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2017/04/28/big-apple-picnics-enjoy-new-york-like-local/100754504/|title=Big Apple picnics: Enjoy New York like a local|date=April 28, 2017|newspaper=[[USA Today]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=McDowell, Rhiannon|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/trips-and-breaks/new-york-simon-shopping-destinations-12966693|title=Taking a bite out of the Big Apple|date=May 1, 2017|newspaper=[[Manchester Evening News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Zen, Summer|url=http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1998136/big-apple-benefits-falling-overseas-interest-london-commercial|title=Big Apple benefits from falling overseas interest in London commercial real estate|date=August 4, 2016|newspaper=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
*The term "big apple" was used by [[Frank Sinatra]] in conversation with opera singer [[Dorothy Kirsten]] on an episode of the [[NBC]] radio program ''Light Up Time'' on March 28, 1950.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.radioechoes.com/?page=play_download&mode=play&dl_mp3folder=F&dl_file=frank_sinatra_light_up_time_1950-03-28_first_song_idve_baked_a_cake.mp3&dl_series=Frank%20Sinatra%20Light%20Up%20Time&dl_title=First%20Song%20Idve%20Baked%20A%20Cake&dl_date=1950.03.28&dl_size=3.07%20MB| title = @22:50}}</ref>
*The [[Big Apple Circus]] was founded in Manhattan in 1977.<ref name="bigac">{{cite web|url=http://www.circusesandsideshows.com/circuses/bigapplecircus.html|title=Big Apple Circus|publisher=Circuses and side shows|access-date=October 10, 2016}}</ref>
*The [[New York Mets]] of [[Major League Baseball]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Official New York Mets Site |website=[[MLB.com]]|url=https://www.mlb.com/mets}}</ref> have featured a "Home Run Apple" that rises whenever a Mets player hits a home run. It has become a symbol of the Mets baseball team, recognized throughout [[Major League Baseball]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Official Major League Baseball Site |url=https://www.mlb.com/}}</ref> as an iconic feature of the Mets' stadiums. It first appeared in [[Shea Stadium]], and the original can still be seen on display at [[Citi Field]], outside the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Citi Field now uses a new apple, one that is much larger than the original.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gagne|first1=Matt|last2=McCarron|first2=Anthony|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-brand-new-home-run-apple-grows-citi-field-article-1.364890|title=A new Home Run Apple grows at Citi Field|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]|language=en|access-date=February 3, 2017}}</ref>
*Uses of the term abound elsewhere in the names of cultural products and events in or concerning New York, including the [[Big Apple Anime Fest]], the [[Big Apple Circus]], the Big Apple Theater Festival, Jess Teong's [[The Kid from the Big Apple]] and Kajagoogoo's [[Big Apple (song)|Big Apple]], and playful uses of the nickname have been seen, such as Patrick Downey's 2008 historical study of New York City's criminal underworld, entitled ''Bad Seeds in the Big Apple.''
*Following his election as President of the United States in 2016, [[Donald Trump]] hosted a party named "The Big Apple Ball",  which featured themed decorations and cut-outs of New York landmarks in honor of his home city.<ref>{{cite news|author=Edelman, Adam|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/u-s-artists-declining-trump-inauguration-invite-article-1.2935765|title=Donald Trump to hold an NYC-themed inauguration party dubbed the 'Big Apple Ball'|date=January 5, 2017|newspaper=[[New York Daily News]]}}</ref>
*In his 1982 song "[[Human Nature (Michael Jackson song)|Human Nature]]", [[Michael Jackson]] refers to New York City by singing, "If this town is just an apple, then let me take a bite".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vogel |first1=Joseph |author1-link=Joseph Vogel (author)|title=Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson |title-link=Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson |date=2011 |publisher=[[Sterling Publishing|Sterling]] |isbn=978-1-4027-7938-1 |page=88}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Randall |title=Michael Jackson's 'Human Nature': An NYC classic on his birthday |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-aug-29-la-et-ms-michael-jacksons-human-nature-a-classic-on-his-birthday-20120829-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=May 3, 2021 |date=August 29, 2012}}</ref>
*In ''[[Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues]]'', when asked why New York is called 'The Big Apple', Ron Burgundy says, "Because, there's an apple tree on every corner!"
*In ''[[Blue's Big City Adventure]]'', Josh calls New York "The Big Apple".
*In the 2017 video game ''[[Super Mario Odyssey]]'', the location New Donk City, which is based on New York City, is referred to by one of its inhabitants as "the Big Banana".
*The cast members of [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]]'s ''[[The Real Housewives of New York City]]'' each hold an apple at the end of the show's intro.
{{portal|New York City}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|Big Apple}}
* [http://www.barrypopik.com/article/3/summary-the-big-apple The Big Apple] Research on the term's history by  [[Barry Popik]]
* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990917.html Straight Dope article]

{{New York City}}
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[[Category:1900s neologisms]]
[[Category:Culture of New York City]]
[[Category:Symbols of New York City]]
[[Category:Etymologies]]
[[Category:American slang]]
[[Category:City fruit nicknames]]
[[Category:Apples in culture]]