Where is the nickname "The Big Apple" coming from?
The nickname of New York “The Big Apple” comes from horse racing slang in the early 1920s, and it was later amplified by jazz culture and revived by a 1970s tourism campaign.
The core origin: horse racing (1920s)
The term was popularized by sportswriter John J. Fitz Gerald, who covered horse racing for the New York Morning Telegraph.
He overheard African American stable hands in New Orleans referring to New York’s racetracks as “the big apple” — meaning the biggest prize, the place where the highest stakes and most prestigious races were held.
He loved the phrase and began using it frequently in his columns, cementing its association with NYC.
Harlem jazz culture (1930s)
Jazz musicians adopted the term next. Smaller cities were “little apples,” but New York — especially Harlem — was “The Big Apple,” the ultimate stage where careers were made.
Clubs used the phrase, songs referenced it, and even a dance called the Big Apple emerged.
Mid-century fade & 1970s revival
The nickname fell out of use in the 1940s–50s.
Then in the 1970s, during a period of economic struggle, NYC’s tourism bureau revived “The Big Apple” as part of a marketing campaign. It stuck — globally — and became the city’s most iconic nickname.
Erika M Szabo
Author of fiction and children's books
No comments:
Post a Comment