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A rubber chicken is a
A rubber chicken is a prop
A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...
used in comedy. 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
Arubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
chicken is an imitation plucked fowl made in a latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...
injection mold.
Origins
The origin of the rubber chicken is obscure, but it is possibly based on the use of inflatedpig bladder
Pig bladder (also pig's bladder) is the urinary bladder of a domestic pig, similar to the human urinary bladder. Today, this hollow organ has various applications in medicine, and in traditional cuisines and customs. Historically, the pig bladde ...
s attached to sticks and used as props or mock weapons by jesters in the days before the development of plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
and latex. Chicken corpses were readily available; therefore jesters could employ them as variations of slapsticks.
One account attributes the first use of a prop chicken to John Holmberg, the Swedish blackface clown of the early 1900s. Similarly British performer Joseph Grimaldi would perform with his pockets full of fake food to mock the gluttony reportedly prevalent among the upper classes at the time. However this predates the vulcanization of rubber.
A claim that the symbol originated during the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
, with soldiers hanging a chicken from their muskets for luck, is printed on the tag of rubber chickens manufactured by Archie McPhee
Archie McPhee is a Seattle-based Novelties, novelty dealer owned by Mark Pahlow. Begun in the 1970s in Los Angeles as the mail-order business Accoutrements, in 1983 it opened a retail outlet dubbed "Archie McPhee" after Pahlow's wife's great-u ...
.
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
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
.{{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZk6DwAAQBAJ&q=rubber+chicken+circuit&pg=PA228, title=The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang, last=Barrett, first=Grant, date=2006-06-08, publisher=OUP USA, isbn=978-0-19-530447-3, language=en
References