Big Apple
New York as seen from the World Trade Center (1980)
Big Apple ( English for big apple ) is the nickname of the American metropolis New York . There are various theories about the origin of this term:
The name Big Apple first appeared in 1909 in Edward S. Martin's book The Wayfarer in New York . There he wrote that the rest of the United States "likes to think that the Big Apple is getting an imbalance in the national juice" (more money than other cities).
- In 1924, sports journalist John J. Fitz Gerald popularized the term "Big Apple" in his column entitled "Around The Big Apple" on the New York horse racing scene. According to his own statements, Fitz Gerald had the term from African-American grooms in New Orleans , who had called the New York racing scene the "Big Apple". The nickname refers to the importance of the New York racecourses Belmont Park and Aqueduct, where "big money" was to be made in horse racing. For the horses, which did not benefit from the money, there was the “Big Apple” in parallel with the “Big Money”.
- In the jazz scene in the 1930s, the term “Big Apple” became an established expression for Harlem and New York as the world's jazz metropolis. At that time, jazz musicians used it with the following ambiguous phrase: “ There are many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple. ”
- Another legend has it that the pianist Peter W. Hendriksen described the clear advantages of New York women in a ballad in 1924 with the term "big apple". Quote: “ Forget the places in New Orleans, forget the bunnies in Texas, there is only one place to be, only New York where the girls show their big apples. “ The song was covered by Steely Dan in the 1970s .
The term lost its popularity in the 1950s, but has been used more frequently since a promotional campaign by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau in the 1970s and has also been the city's official nickname ever since.
music
- Johan de Meij's Symphony No. 2 is called The Big Apple .
- The British jazz trumpeter Nat Gonella recorded a number in 1937 called "The Big Apple".
- Alice Cooper released "Big Apple Dreamin '" as the opening song of the album Muscle of Love (1973).
- The English pop band Kajagoogoo released a track "Big Apple" in 1983.
- Big Apple Adventure wrote a song "Lifeway VBS" in 2011.
literature
- Gerald Cohen: Origin of New York City's nickname "The Big Apple" . Lang, Frankfurt am Main etc. 1991, ISBN 3-631-43787-0 .
Web links
- Why Is New York City Called "The Big Apple"? (English)
- Detailed information about the term "Big Apple" (English)