[Ads-l] Another Early Citation for "Big Apple"

Shapiro, Fred fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
Mon Jan 4 17:02:50 UTC 2016


Here's a still earlier citation for _Big Apple_ 'New York horse racing circuit.'  I believe this is now the second oldest known citation.  It is interesting that the term is used without explicit explanation:

1922 _Courier-Journal_ (Louisville) 17 Apr. 6 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  Jockey Russell McDermott departs for New York tonight.  He became connected with the Madden establishment a week ago and will give the "big apple" a trial for a change.

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: Shapiro, Fred
Sent: Monday, January 04, 2016 11:51 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Cc: bapopik at aol.com
Subject: Early Citation for "Big Apple"

I have a found a citation for "Big Apple," referring to the New York horse racing circuit, that is not an antedating but seems, from what I glean from an article on barrypopik.com, to be tied for the second earliest citation for the race track sense:

1922 _Courier Journal_ (Louisville) 3 May 12 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  Harry Anderson finally deserted the "big apple" as the New York racing circuit is known and is on the scene here.

Fred Shapiro


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