Harlem’s jazz musicians (1930s)
Harlem's jazz musicans did undeniably help spread the "Big Apple" phrase in the 1930s, but did not originate it. The Big Apple night club, at Seventh Avenue and West 135th Street,…
La Grosse Pomme (Paris nightclub, 1937-1938)
American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer Adelaide Hall (1901-1993) and her husband, Bertram Hicks, opened a nightclub called La Grosse Pomme (French for "The Big Apple") in…
Manzana Principal (suggested in 1966)
It is sometimes claimed that "Big Apple" comes from the Spanish, "manzana principal," the "apple" or block of a city. "The word manzana, so frequently used at…
New Orange (not Big Orange; 1673-1674)
It is sometimes said that before New York City was the "Big Apple," it was the "Big Orange." New York City was called "New Orange" from 1673 to 1674, but this is…
New York City is shaped like an apple (1970s)
When 'Big Apple" was re-popularized by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau in the 1970s, many ideas about the "Big Apple" origin were put forward. New York (NY) Times…
New York State grows many apples (suggested in 1988)
New York State grows many varieties of apples, and it is sometimes claimed that New York City's nickname of the "Big Apple" is related to this. This suggestion was made to the…
Slave Codes (1850s)
A new explanation for the "Big Apple," first proposed in the 2000s, claims that the nickname arose from pre-Civil War slave codes used in the underground railroad (a network of secret…
There are many apples on the tree, but when you pick NYC, you pick the Big Apple (1975)
The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, led by president Charles Gillett (1915-1995), re-popularized the term "Big Apple" with its advertising campaign in the 1970s. In May 1975,…
Tightening of Adam’s Apple (suggested in 1978)
It is sometimes claimed that in the sports and entertainment worlds, when someone would play in New York City (the big time), the performer's Adam's apple would tighten, and, from this,…