“Buffalo Gals” keychain

LOVED FOR:  “Buffalo Gals won’t you come out tonight?”  Our signature “Buffalo Gals” keychain is perfect for a backpack or purse. 

GOOD TO KNOW:  Plastic, 3.5 x 2.25 inches with stainless split chain ring. (Approximately the size of a business card.)  * NOT A TOY; NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN.

BUFFALOVE:  “Buffalo Gals” is an American folk tune with a meandering history: Originally published in 1844, it beckoned a young woman to come out and dance. Although credited to singer John Hodges, it seems most likely adapted from other songs and, as often happened in music of that era, moved easily between published versions and folk tunes learned by ear.  

Folk versions of “Buffalo Gals” may have existed before it was performed on professional stages; the song was known as “Round Town Gals” in Virginia and West Virginia.  It’s also been suggested the song originated in one of the seamier sections of 19th century Buffalo, NY.  Adjacent to the Erie Canal ran “the wickedest street in the world,” where Lake Erie sailors, canal workers, lowlifes, and “ladies” of a certain reputation, frequented the city’s many waterfront dive bars.

Lyrics were often localized to suit the town as the popular song moved across the country with traveling minstrel troupes: “Charleston Gals,” “Bowery Gals,” “New York Gals,” and “Philadelphia Gals were all used as at one time or another. By 1848, “Buffalo Gals” had become the preferred version.