[Ads-l] big apple

[David Daniel]

I've been watching old Perry Mason shows. Very cool, as well as
nostalgia-ridden. Anyway, the episode I'm watching now (air date Nov 15,
1958) is about horse racing and Perry is defending a jockey accused of
murder (of course he didn't do it). So Perry and Paul Drake are talking to
the trainer who was the jockey's boss, and the trainer is talking about how
you move up in the racing world. You start off small, etc. etc., and then
one day you make it to the Big Apple. "The Big Apple?" Perry asks. "Yeah,"
says the trainer, "Saratoga, Belmont..." meaning the big ones. Perry had
never heard the term and there is no direct reference to New York, except of
course that both those tracks are in New York. It's strictly treated as
racing jargon. (A side note on these shows: I have watched about 45 of them
now and have yet to see a black actor, not one. Feels very bizarre. Also
everyone except Della Street is constantly - constantly - smoking.)
DAD

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