A rubber chicken is a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen 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, distinct ...

used in

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

. 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

rubber 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. Types of polyisoprene ...

chicken is an imitation plucked fowl made in a

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

injection mold. Modern day rubber chickens usually have some sort of squeaking device similar to one found in a

rubber duck A rubber duck, or a rubber duckie, is a toy shaped like a duck, that is usually yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic. Rubber ducks were invented in the late 19th century when it became ...

, 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 inflated pig bladders attached to sticks and used as props or mock weapons by

jester A jester, also known as joker, court jester, or fool, was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch kept to entertain guests at the royal court. Jesters were also travelling performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town ma ...

s in the days before the development of

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

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 Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

clown of the early 1900s. Similarly, British performer

Joseph Grimaldi Joseph Grimaldi (18 December 1778 – 31 May 1837)Moody, Jane"Grimaldi, Joseph" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 13 February 2012 was an English actor, comedian and dancer, who became the most ...

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, with soldiers hanging a chicken from their

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

s for luck, is printed on the tag of rubber chickens manufactured by Archie 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 of political campaigning.{{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

Chickens Rubber toys Toy animals Prop design Novelty items