Syndicated newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (1897-1972) wrote in a column in September 1948:
“There are so many chow mein places on 52nd Street between 6th and 7th now—the midnight-to-sun-up set calls it Burma Road.”
“Burma Road” was a famous supply line to China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The name “Burma Road” does not have any other known citations and is of historical interest today.
Wikipedia: Burma Road
The Burma Road (Chinese: 滇缅公路) was a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals were Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. It was built while Burma was a British colony in order to convey supplies to China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Preventing the flow of supplies on the road helped motivate the occupation of Burma by the Empire of Japan in 1942. Use of the road was restored to the Allies in 1945 after the completion of the Ledo Road. Some parts of the old road are still visible today.
24 September 1948, Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger, “On Broadway” by Walter Winchell, pg. 33, col. 1:
There are so many chow mein places on 52nd Street between 6th and 7th now—the midnight-to-sun-up set calls it Burma Road.
June 1949, Hearst’s International Combined with Cosmopolitan (New York, NY), “Winchell’s New York,” pg. 53:
There are so many chow mein places on 52nd Street between 6th and 7th now—the midnight-to-sun-up set calls it Burma Road.
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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