# When and how did chicken wings... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497 "2002-07-05T15:21:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/1 "2002-07-05T15:21:31Z")
become buffalo wings? Was it originally a marketing thing? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/2 "2002-07-05T15:23:58Z")
They were invented in Buffalo, New York. Do a search on previous threads using the words “Buffalo wings.” We discussed this a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/3 "2002-07-05T15:37:17Z")
Here’s the place that started it all in 1964. The [Anchor Bar Restaurant](http://www.buffalowings.com/newwings/anchorbar/anchorbar.html) in Buffalo, New York. As I heard the original reason behind Buffalo Wings was the restaurant/bar looking for a way to increase drink sales. I guess they figured something nice and spicy should do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/4 "2002-07-05T15:39:52Z")
The insidious tide of genetic engineering is everywhere. Last night, I saw an ad on TV for “Double Dipping Buffalo Fingers.” An early example was the lemon-lime drink Sprite, which was allegedly made from “limons.” ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/5 "2002-07-06T01:04:44Z")
hey, you got chocolate on my peanut butter…! ---
**Author:** ![violet9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ea666f/32.png) [@violet9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violet9)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/6 "2002-07-06T02:06:41Z")
What I would like to know is what was the originial chicken? I mean where is the bird which was first domesticated - horses, cows, sheep, pigs - they all have known (or likely) ancestors - where’s the chicken? ---
**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:** [July 6, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/7 "2002-07-06T02:39:15Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AskNott \* > \*\*Last night, I saw an ad on TV for “Double Dipping Buffalo Fingers.” \*\* If I ever changed my username, you know … 😃 e (Buffalo born and raised) ---
**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:** [July 6, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/8 "2002-07-06T02:46:11Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AskNott \* > \*\*Last night, I saw an ad on TV for “Double Dipping Buffalo Fingers.” \*\* If I ever changed my username, you know … 😃 e (Buffalo born and raised) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/9 "2002-07-06T02:49:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by violet9 \* > \*\*What I would like to know is what was the originial chicken? I mean where is the bird which was first domesticated - horses, cows, sheep, pigs - they all have known (or likely) ancestors - where’s the chicken? \*\* The ancestor of the domestic chicken is the red jungle fowl, native to India and Southeast Asia. It looks essentially like a chicken. This blurb claims it was first domesticated in what is present day Thailand and Vietnam, some 8000 years ago. Other sources may vary a bit: [http://members.tripod.com/poultryworld/breeds/redjungle.htm](http://members.tripod.com/poultryworld/breeds/redjungle.htm) ---
**Author:** ![violet9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ea666f/32.png) [@violet9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violet9)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/10 "2002-07-06T15:58:19Z")
yabob - THANKS! I’m delighted to know that - I’ve wondered about that for years!. ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/11 "2002-07-06T20:49:50Z")
Of the domestication of fowl in Southeast Asia, that link says: “This is a rare case in which the domestication of a species did not result in the extinction of its wild ancestor.” Hmm. I can accept that the domestication of cattle might have resulted in the extinction of the aurochs, but I can’t think of any other cases. Obviously my knowledge is limited, because I can only think of wild relatives to domestic critters - I’m not always sure what the exact ancestor species was. Housecats? Plenty of wild cats still exist, although I’m not sure the exact status of the one or many species which from which _F. catus_ was domesticated. In any case there is at least one wild species housecats can interbreed with (Asian leopard cats). Dogs? Wolves still exist. Doesn’t that count fer nothin? Domestic turkeys? I didn’t think wild turkey was just a beverage, but I could be wrong. Ferrets? Polecats. Pigs? I have no clue about this one. Obviously warthogs and boars are still around, but maybe pigs are domesticated from some other kind of porker and that species is not around any more. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/12 "2002-07-07T00:33:27Z")
They might be guilty of a bit of hyperbole. I didn’t choose that link for its text, but because it was a rather good picture of the bird in question, illustrating how much the wild “chicken” looks like some varieties of its domestic counterpart. If you google around yourself under “red jungle fowl”, you can, of course, find much more extensive information. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/13 "2002-07-07T03:55:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Here’s the place that started it all in 1964. The Anchor Bar Restaurant in Buffalo, New York. > > As I heard the original reason behind Buffalo Wings was the restaurant/bar looking for a way to increase drink sales. I guess they figured something nice and spicy should do the trick. And the blue cheese dressing? It just happened to be the house special at the Anchor Bar so they served it with the wings. If they had a house Italian, the whole thing might have never taken off. ---
**Author:** ![violet9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ea666f/32.png) [@violet9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/violet9)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2002, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-and-how-did-chicken-wings/117497/14 "2002-07-07T22:02:41Z")
I have searched under red jungle fowl and have come up with an interesting little announcement that the chicken’s genome has been mapped by Japanese researchers and has been found to directly descend from this bird. NOW my quest is to find out what I can about how this animal from a remote part of the world managed to spread westward through Europe such a long, long time ago. THANKS!