Fwd: Message from Big Apple web site visitor

[Jonathan Lighter]

A colleague of mine is on her way to Beijing U. to lecture on American culture for a few weeks.
Already one of her hosts has asked about the real origin of "The Big Apple," which seems to be a hot topic in the People's Republic. (One shudders to think why....)

I directed her pronto to Barry's site and advised her to eschew all others.

JL


bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: Fwd: Message from Big Apple web site visitor
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazing.
...
For the record, I went to the Manhattan Borough President's office (I had done this a mere 13 years ago, under a different borough president; on the BP's web page, you'll find "Manhattan--The Heart of the Big Apple"), told 'em that last year the Big Apple Fest said that the "Big Apple" comes from whores, and demanded that I be treated like a human being after all these years, and that this year's Big Apple Fest get the story straight, and that they'll tell New Yorkers, and that they'll look for living witnesses and honor the black stablehands.
...
Only in a city like this would I get living witnesses like what I got just now, and NYC will let 'em die, because they're not a "runaway bride" or something like that, and it's not news.
...
Barry Popik
www.barrypopik.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Gilbert Tauber
To: bapopik at aol.com
Sent: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 01:55:48 +0200
Subject: Message from Big Apple web site visitor


Dear Mr. Popik,

This recollection may interest you:

I worked under Charles Gillett at the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1959 to 1965. He was then the Bureau?s promotion director. My job was writing press releases and updating the Bureau?s various tourist brochures.

I think it was early in 1963 that I was meeting with him about some copy for a new brochure. This was during the run-up to the 1964-65 World?s Fair, and most of the Bureau?s publications carried ?Come to the World?s Fair? or similar slogans in large type.

After our discussion of the brochure draft, I jokingly asked Gillett what slogan we?d use once the World?s Fair was over. He said, ?Well, Gilbert, if I ever get to run this place, I?m going to start a campaign based on "?and here he gestured with both hands to indicate a banner headline in the air over his desk--?New York: The Big Apple.?

?The Big Apple,? I asked? Why?

?Its an old jazz musicians nickname for New York. They used to call it that because New York is where they?d get the best-paying jobs. There was even a dance called the Big Apple.?

With that, he stood up, came around to the front of his desk, and skillfully demonstrated several steps.

That was our only conversation on ?The Big Apple? during the time I worked for him.

A few years after I left the Bureau, Charles Gillett did get to run the place, and the rest is history.

Gilbert Tauber
Cologne, Germany

e-mail: gt.avb at t-online.de


---------------------------------
Discover Yahoo!
 Stay in touch with email, IM, photo sharing & more. Check it out!