We saw have your name appear on hundreds of Apple promotional images as well as in several Keynotes. John Appleseed or Johnny Appleseed appears among contacts, messages, phone calls, or as sample text in fields we use both in apps and on the web.
It is a name that, without a doubt, fits Apple very well. To be its translation Juan AppleseedWe can imagine why they chose it, but the truth is that the choice goes much further. A tribute to the one who was one of those responsible for the baptism of his company by Steve Jobs under the name of Apple.
A tribute to a man who lived from and for nature
Johnny Appleseed was a real person. Missionary and gardener born September 26, 1774 in Massachusetts. His real name, John Chapman, replaced by his much better known nickname of John or Johnny Appleseed, has went down in history as an American pioneer and legend. This man achieved the title of American legend during his lifetime and it was thanks to his selfless leadership in nature conservation and the symbolic tribute he paid to apples.
His well-deserved title of arborist had its beginnings in his role as an apprentice in the fields of Mr. Crawford’s farm. There, growing apples, he was inspired by what was for him a way of life, that of honoring nature by planting trees. Stories of his dedication to collecting seeds in the Potomac River date back to 1790, and while the popular image is of someone who planted apple trees wherever he went, the truth is the reality was a bit different.
Appleseed established nurseries, built fences around them to protect them from livestock, and left them to be run by neighbors who could sell the trees for livestock. He came back every year or so to tend the nursery and keep the trees healthy. It’s still the responsible for introducing apple trees to most of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Ontario
Johnny Appleseed bequeathed a farm of more than 490 hectares of precious nurseries to his sister. He also owned four plots in Allen County, Indiana, including a nursery in Milan Township with 15,000 trees and two plots in Mount Vernon, Ohio. A good amount of goods that he had amassed throughout his life and whose economic value was more than considerable.
He’s the character who helped bring the apple trees to where they weren’t. Who spread them all over the American West long before Steve Jobs decided his new company would be called Apple. A person to whom Apple has decided to pay tribute on several occasions in a way that, although it may go unnoticed, is worthy of attention.
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