Why is New York called "the Big Apple"?

Question

Due my research, it seems that New York's nickname, the Big Apple, was slowly getting being adapted from the beginning of the 1920's starting with the horseracing of John Fitzgerald, continuing with the way Jazz musicians from New Orleans refered to New York City as the Big Apple for their triumphs of performences there in the '30s and '40s, then in '71 when New York adapted that name and decided to grow alot of red apples to "lure foreigners to New York", and finally finishing with making this spot in New York City called the "Big Apple Corner". There seems to be alot of other ways Big Apple started being used. On famous school in Brooklyn where my sister goes is called with two names: Bembi Academy and Big Apple Academy.

All right, so the history seems to be sort of clear... it appears that the nickname was being adapter by other people and businesses and slowly became New York's second name. Why I need as an answer here is a well-written essay about the Big Apple.

If you're going to use links as your answer, please exclude this website: http://salwen.com/apple.html and a few others that are either too short either not well written. I would very much prefer if you wrote your own essay. Thank you.

Answer 1

To the jazz musicians that you mention, any city in which they played was an "apple", and therefore New York, the biggest American city back in the 30s and 40s, was called the Big Apple. There was a saying in show business at the time that "there are many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple.

There is also a theory that it originated in horse racing circles, for much the same reason, i.e., that the most important races were in New York. The newspaperman John J. FitzGerald is supposed to be the first person to use the nickname in print, in 1921, and he claims to have heard it from a couple of boys who were walking racehorses (to cool them down after a workout).

Answer 2

I dedicated "Big Apple Corner." What more do you need to know? Apples were a large part of the symbolism of the early 20th century, especially an America that frequently quoted the Bible (Adam & Eve) and the Greek Myths (apple of discord). Horses love apples and it was a big reward. If you need anything else, just e-mail me.
--Barry Popik

Answer 3

The significance of 'Apple' is from way before Biblical times...
The Garden of Eden 'Apple'... The 'Apple of my Eye, "apple" ' and the quote 'An apple a day.....

Apple refers to being the 'fruit of well being', 'significant part of sight','fruit of temptation', 'fruit of the heavens'...so important that it is mentioned in religious, medical and political journals.....

I stand corrected......

Answer 4

I am sorry I am not going to use any links to answer your question. In fact, I will make it quite brief: New York is big apple or a big carrot if you like carrots, it is. It is like Moscow was to USSR.