# Buffalo Girls? Are they real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894 "2002-09-04T00:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Truckprofessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@Truckprofessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truckprofessor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/1 "2002-09-04T00:24:28Z")
What is a buffalo girl? Why do Buffalo Girls only come out at night and why do they go round the outside? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/2 "2002-09-04T01:07:08Z")
You need to listen more carefully - It’s "Trailer park girls go 'round the round the outside, round the outside. " Re [Buffalo gals](http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyerie/ercanal.htm) > [@](#): > > A little history about where the canal ended in Buffalo: our canal district, virtually in the shadow of our City Hall, was perhaps the most notorious and seamy waterfront in the whole country. The innocent-sounding song, “Buffalo Gals (Won’t You Come Out Tonight),” is actually about prostitutes, because Buffalo’s Canal Street was lined with brothels. ---
**Author:** ![Truckprofessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@Truckprofessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truckprofessor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/3 "2002-09-04T01:40:12Z")
Thanks Astro, I kind of figured that. I wondered where the first referance came from. Then that is why they only came out at night to practice their trade. In the Malcolm MacLearen song they went round the outside? Is this a referance to streets and or corners or perhaps just in the great outdoors? wjich also raises the question as to what a “Buffalo Stance” is. Qouted from the song of the same name by Nenah Cherry. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/4 "2002-09-04T06:41:51Z")
Then again … > [@](#): > > This song was published in 1844 with the title _Lubly Fan_. It was written by one of the first black-faced minstrels, Cool White (John Hodges). Allen and John Lomax believe it was a traditional tune, known before Cool White published the music. It was popular in minstrel shows throughout the United States and the location was changed accordingly to New York Gals, Charleston Gals, etc. Buffalo, therefore, refers to the city rather than the animal. > > In _Collection of North Carolina Folklore_, Frank Brown suggests it may have its inspiration from an English singing game, _Pray, Pretty Miss_ and that the tune is close to that of an old German music hall song, _Im Grunewald, im Grunewald ist Holzauktion_. Other scholars have suggested the song originated around the Erie Canal. Source: [http://www.contemplator.com/america/buffgals.html](http://www.contemplator.com/america/buffgals.html) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/5 "2002-09-04T22:59:43Z")
WHOA! Maybe George Bailey really WASN’T the “Nice Guy!” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/6 "2002-09-04T23:31:41Z")
Holzauktion? Is that “wood auction”? ---
**Author:** ![Truckprofessor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@Truckprofessor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truckprofessor)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/7 "2002-09-05T01:15:00Z")
Very Interesting Duckster! I knew that there were some answers out there. Where do you find stuff like that? In here I guess. Not much of an “Eminem” fan Astro, but it did spark this contraversy at work. What’s up with Johnny L.A.? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/8 "2002-09-05T04:12:28Z")
Check out [http://www.buffalobarfly.com](http://www.buffalobarfly.com) , particularly the link to [_The Buzz_](http://www.buffalobarfly.com/buzz/buzz.html). It’s not pornographic. I;ve heard two stories about the definition of a “Buffalo stance.” 1. It was a particular way members of the Buffalo Bills would stand and glare at the opposing team. 2. It’s a smug, “I’m not going anywhere” pose struck by inner city youth, involving [standing with your arms crossed over your chest](http://honan.net/Baja/dscn0917.jpg). It’s nearly impossible to Google for the origins of the phrase, because it’s the title of the Neneh Cherry song. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-girls-are-they-real/126894/9 "2002-09-05T04:24:52Z")
The real question, of course, is: “Did the Buffalo Gal ever meet the Elephant Man?” 😃