Editing Big Apple (section)

=== 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" />}}