The Big Apple: Haircut Street (Pell Street)

Above, a plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at west 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Recent entries:
• Crap Sandwich (10/6)
• “Cut your losses and let your profits run” (Wall Street proverb) (10/6)
• “Bulls and bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered” (Wall Street adage) (10/6)
• “Never fall in love with a stock” (Wall Street adage) (10/5)
• “Scared money never wins” (gambling, Wall Street adage) (10/5)
More new entries...

Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.

Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Oct. 17, 1931, Turf Play, p. 7.

Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce The Big Apple, a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

This site is edited by Barry Popik. Technical matters are handled by Grant Barrett of Double-Tongued Word Wrester Dictionary.

Entry from May 17, 2005

Haircut Street (Pell Street)

I couldn't find historical citations for "Haircut Street," but if our tourism website says it's so, then it must be.

http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=1195
Pell Street is nicknamed "Haircut Street" because of a multitude of barber and beauty shops. There's a Buddhist temple here that's mainly for visitors; locals often opt for quieter temples.

28 January 1998, New York Times, pg. B3:
At right, barbers on Pell Street had their hands full.

Posted by Barry Popik
Streets • (0) Comments • Tuesday, May 17, 2005 • Permalink