New York City is called the Big Apple because writer John Fitz Gerald popularized the name in the 1920s in horse racing columns, and a 1970s tourism campaign made it famous.
The origin
Sports writer John J. Fitz Gerald popularized “the Big Apple” in horse racing columns for the New York Morning Telegraph, starting in 1921. He heard stable hands in New Orleans call New York’s tracks the big apple, meaning the biggest prize.
How it spread
- Jazz musicians in the 1930s used it for New York’s stages.
- The nickname faded, then the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau revived it in a 1970s tourism campaign.
- In 1997, a stretch of West 54th Street was named Big Apple Corner.
Earliest uses
The nickname appeared in a 1920s newspaper column by sportswriter John J. Fitz Gerald of the New York Morning Telegraph. He heard stable hands in New Orleans use “the big apple” for the New York racetracks, where the biggest prizes were.
The column
Fitz Gerald began a column titled “Around the Big Apple” in 1921, and the phrase spread among horse racing fans.
Jazz era
In the 1930s, jazz musicians used the phrase to describe New York as the top place to play. Performing there meant reaching the “big time”. A common saying was that there were many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple.
Revival campaign
By the 1970s, the city was in a financial crisis and crime concerns kept tourists away. In 1971, the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, led by Charles Gillett, launched a campaign using the Big Apple name to promote tourism. It was a success and the name became widely known.
Street naming
In 1997, a corner at West 54th Street and Broadway was named Big Apple Corner in honor of John Fitz Gerald.
Other theories
Some stories say the name comes from a brothel owner Eve, or from the apples from a fruit stand. Historians generally do not consider these as supported by evidence.
Other nicknames
New York is also called Gotham, the City That Never Sleeps and Empire City.
History of the nickname
The earliest known use of “the Big Apple” for New York comes from sportswriter John J. Fitz Gerald, who wrote about horse racing for the New York Morning Telegraph and used it in a column in 1921. He said he heard stable hands in New Orleans refer to New York’s racetracks as “the big apple,” meaning the top prize. In the 1920s and 1930s, jazz musicians adopted the term, saying there were many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple, meaning New York City was the place to make it. The phrase faded in the 1950s.
Revival and honors
In 1971, Charles Gillett of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau revived the nickname in a tourism campaign, and it became widely known. In 1997, the city named the corner of West 54th Street and Broadway, where Fitz Gerald had lived, “Big Apple Corner.” Other nicknames for New York include Gotham, a term from Washington Irving’s 1807 writings, the Empire City, and the City That Never Sleeps. New York City has about 8.3 million residents and is the most populous city in the United States.
Based on data from the New York Public Library and the NYC Tourism Board
