Entry in progress—B.P.
Wiktionary: good-time Charlie
Noun
good-time Charlie (plural good-time Charlies)
1. An affable or happy-go-lucky carefree convivial man
(Oxford English Dictionary)
good-time Charlie n. originally U.S. a man whose chief aim is the pursuit of sensual pleasures; a playboy.
[1925 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram 2 Feb. 13/6 (advt.) Eddie Buzzell..in ‘Good Time Charlie’ written by Eddie Cantor.]
1925 Amer. Mercury Aug. 475/2 What is more, even the good-time Charlie New Yorker, the flashier type of New Yorker, isn’t at bottom much different than his country-jake cousin.
1949 N. Algren Man with Golden Arm i. 115 Good-time Charlies with the usual whiskey glass.
Newspapers.com
9 May 1922, Pittsburgh (PA) Press, “Gink Compels Law and Order” by “Bugs” Baer, pg. 27, col. 5:
Anywhere he was he was only a Good Time Charley on a trip. He could live in one place 50 years and still only be a visitor.
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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