But they're minor hits. A rubber gator is good for some tourist dollars in Miami. Not much more. As long as it sells, I'm happy with the sweet mystery of it all. His chickens are rubber, his checks are not.
Nobody is quite sure when the first rubber chicken took flight.
Its history might go back to the dawn of the rubber age in 1839, several show business historians say. In the early 1800s, gluttony was very fashionable. Grimaldi, a white-faced clown, would take the stage with food props stuffed in his pocket to lampoon the upper class. Contemporary clowns can't say why they pull out rubber chickens. And, of course, they're easy to carry around.