A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from June 16, 2012
Puddletown (Portland nickname)

The city of Portland is sometimes called “Puddletown”  because of the puddles made by all its rain. The “Puddletown” nickname has been cited in print since at least 1981 and has been used in several business names, such as the Puddletown Ramblers (music) and the Puddletown Publishing Group.
 
     
City Dictionary—Portland, OR)
Puddletown
Nickname for Portland because of all the rainfall it receives. Puddletown has made its way into popular PDX culture, as it’s commonly affixed to names of businesses, sports teams, et al. Posted by: Anonymous on Dec 07, 2009
 
1 February 1981, Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), “Portland on brink of big construction boom” by Steven Carter, pg. E3, col. 1:
They used to call it “Puddletown,” but Portland of late is taking on the earmarks of a big city.
     
Googel Books
The Facts of Life in Portland, Oregon
By Elaine S. Friedman
Portland, OR: Portland Possibilities
1993  
Pg. 9:
Puddletown
Puddletown, another Portland moniker, may have similarly early roots.
 
Waste Age
Places To Pause In Portland
Patti Verbanas
Sep. 1, 1996
Please don’t call it “Puddle-town.” There’s more to Portland than its 37 inches of annual rainfall. From a famed rose garden to the 24-hour Church of Elvis, Portland offers a wide variety of entertainment.
 
Google Books
How to Talk American:
A Guide to Our Native Tongues

By Jim Crotty
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
1997
Pg. 270:
Puddletown: Portland. Aka “Stumptown.”
 
23 March 1997, San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune, “In Portland, when it rains, they pour”:
Portland, Ore., is sometimes called “Rainville,” “Puddletown” or “Slugville.” But the nicknames may be a bit overblown. Portland averages less precipitation than 34 US cities, including Miami, New York, Boston and Washington.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Tales from Puddletown
Author: Kate Power; Steve Einhorn
Publisher: Portland, Or. : Artichoke Music, [2003].
Edition/Format:  Music CD : CD audio : Popular music : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Black highway
Publisher: Portland, Or. : Raindrop Entertainment, [2005]
Edition/Format:  Music CD : CD audio : Popular music : English
Performer(s): Puddletown Ramblers.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Fright flight / Lisa Ard ; illustrations by M.K. Nelson.
Author: Lisa Ard; M K Nelson
Publisher: Portland, Ore. : Puddletown Publishing Group, ©2011.
Edition/Format:  Book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : English

Posted by Barry Popik
Oregon (Beaver State Dictionary) • Saturday, June 16, 2012 • Permalink


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