“Big Apple as mecca” (Jet magazine, 1952)

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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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.

Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.

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.

Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.

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Entry from March 11, 2022

“Big Apple as mecca” (Jet magazine, 1952)

Jet magazine was founded in 1945 to serve the African-American community. “Big Apple” was cited many times.

“From the South and Midwest, beauty queens look to the ‘Big Apple’ as mecca and migrate to Harlem to seek their fortune” was printed on June 5, 1952. “It was his first trip back to the ‘Big Apple’ (New York City—ed.) in 25 years” was printed on October 30, 1958.

These citations of “Big Apple” are before the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau repopularized “Big Apple” in the 1970s.

Wikipedia: Jet (magazine)
Jet is an American weekly digital magazine focusing on news, culture, and entertainment related to the African-American community. Founded in November 1951 by John H. Johnson of the Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois, the magazine was billed as “The Weekly Negro News Magazine”. Jet chronicled the civil rights movement from its earliest years, including the murder of Emmett Till, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the activities of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Google Books
5 June 1952, Jet, “Harlem Versus Hollywood,” pg. 33:
From the South and Midwest, beauty queens look to the “Big Apple” as mecca and migrate to Harlem to seek their fortune — whether as a ...

Google Books
10 June 1954, jet, pg. 59 (photo caption):
‘Big Apple’: After their closing performances in the summer musical Showboat at New York City Center, show’s star Berl Ives (1.) and baritone Lawrence Winters share last apples together backstage.

Google Books
17 February 1955, Jet, “Inside Sports” by A. S. “Doc” Young, pg. 57:
There was a time when it appeared that he would freeze to death in the cold caverns of the Big Apple.

Google Books
19 May 1955, Jet, “People Are talking About,” pg. 46:
That Big Apple cop whose wife tried to run over him with her car then left him to die in the street.

Google Books
30 October 1958, Jet, pg. 38:
TRAVELOGUE Clarence Callicoatte. former Harlemite and a 20-year man in the engineering department of Los Angeles’ Edison Co., took his wife Mildred to New York for a two-week holiday. It was his first trip back to the “Big Apple” in 25 years

Posted by Barry Popik
New York City • The Big Apple • 1940s-1950s: Assorted Big Apple citations • Friday, March 11, 2022 • Permalink

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