# where did the term "peanut gallery" come from?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 8, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883 "2002-08-08T00:51:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![johnjdopey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@johnjdopey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnjdopey)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883/1 "2002-08-08T00:51:26Z")

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Hmm?

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**Author:** ![Cap\_n\_Crude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Cap\_n\_Crude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Crude)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883/2 "2002-08-08T00:54:54Z")

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From the old TV show _Howdy Doody._ The Peanut Gallery was the section where the on-air live audience of kids sat.

Welcome to the boards, youngster.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883/3 "2002-08-08T02:22:39Z")

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**Cap’n Crude**. You youngster you. 🙂

The upper balcony in theatres in the 1890’s were called _peanut galleries_. That’s the origin of the term. People sitting there would eat peanuts, sometimes pelting bad acts with shells and perhaps whole nuts.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883/4 "2002-08-08T03:36:43Z")

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There’s a staff report on this:

What’s the origin of the expression “peanut gallery”?  
Apr-19-1999

[www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeanut.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpeanut.html)

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**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-term-peanut-gallery-come-from/122883/5 "2002-08-08T05:31:56Z")

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A Staff report from last century about an expression from the one before that.

There isn’t a link on that page to the message boards.

Ancient history, huh?

Tris