In the early years of the nineteenth century, refugees from war-torn Europe began arriving in New York.
Many were remnants of the crumbling French aristocracy, forced to seek refuge abroad from the dreaded guillotine.
Among these was a Madamoiselle Evelyn Claudine de Saint-Evremond, who arrived in 1803.
Daughter of a noted courtier, wit, and litterateur, and herself a favorite of Marie Antoinette, Evelyn was by all accounts beautiful, vivacious, and well-educated and soon became a society favorite.
For reasons never disclosed, however, a planned marriage the following year to John Hamilton, son of the late Alexander Hamilton, was called off at the last minute.
Soon after, with support from several highly placed admirers, Evelyn established a salon (which apparently was an elegantly furnished bordello) in a substantial house that still stands at 142 Bond Street, then one of the city’s most exclusive residential districts.
Evelyn’s establishment quickly became known as the most entertaining and discreet of the city’s many bordellos, known for its elegant dinners, high-stakes gambling, and witty conversation.
When New Yorkers insisted on anglicizing her name to “Eve,” Evelyn apparently found the biblical reference highly amusing, and referred to the temptresses in her employ as “my irresistable apples.”
The young men about town soon referred to their amorous adventures as “having a taste of Eve’s Apples.”
The rest is etymological history, and the city is now often called “The Big Apple.”
