Rubber chicken

Rubber chicken in the back of a truck

Arubber chickenis apropused incomedy.The phrase is also used as a description for food served at speeches, conventions, and other large meetings, and as a metaphor for speechmaking.

Description

A rubber chicken is sometimes used as a prop in clown acts

Arubberchicken is an imitation plucked fowl made in alatexinjection mold. Modern day rubber chickens usually have some sort of squeaking device similar to one found in arubber duck,allowing the chicken to squeak or scream when squeezed.

Origins

The origin of the rubber chicken is obscure, but it is possibly based on the use of inflatedpig bladdersattached to sticks and used as props or mock weapons byjestersin the days before the development ofplasticand latex. Chicken corpses were readily available; therefore jesters could employ them as variations ofslapsticks.

One account attributes the first use of a prop chicken to John Holmberg, the Swedishblackfaceclown of the early 1900s.Similarly, British performerJoseph Grimaldiwould perform with his pockets full of fake food to mock the gluttony reportedly prevalent among the upper classes at the time.However, this predates thevulcanization of rubber.

A claim that the symbol originated during theFrench Revolution,with soldiers hanging a chicken from theirmusketsfor luck, is printed on the tag of rubber chickens manufactured byArchie McPhee.

Food and speechmaking

The term "rubber chicken" is used disparagingly to describe the food served at political or corporate events, weddings, and other gatherings where there are a large number of guests who require serving in a short timeframe. Often, pre-cooked chicken is held at serving temperature for some time and then dressed with a sauce as it is served. Consequently, the meat may be tough or "rubbery". Someone who "travels the 'rubber chicken circuit'" is said to do so by attending or making speeches at many such gatherings, often as part ofpolitical campaigning.