Forgotten Buffalo: Historic & Hip...

Forgotten Buffalo: Historic & Hip...An Urban Explorer's Guide to the Buffalo-Niagara Region: Unique Landmarks, Historic Gin Mills, Old World Neighborhoods, History, Nickel City Oddities, Tours and More!

Welcome

Experience the Tour

Departure Board

Arrival Board

Tour Polish Buffalo

Buffalo Ethnic Tours

Tour German Buffalo

Tour Italian Buffalo

Tour Irish Buffalo

Last Fine Time Tour

Buffalo Brewery Tour

Classic Taverns-Awards

Classic Taverns-Buffalo

Dill's Tavern

Top Hill Grill

Talty's

Daren's Tavern

Scharf's Schiller Park

Pristach's

G&T Inn

Gene McCarthy's

Ulrich's Tavern

Artys Grill

Dick's Eastside Inn

East End Tavern

Sportsman Tavern

The Malamute

Taverns of Polonia 1910

Dalys

Eddie Brady's Bar

Ten-O-Won Grill

Classic Taverns-Travels

The Concertina Bar

Mels Bar

Club 505

Steve's Lounge

Classic Taverns-Last Call

Felong's Tavern

Billy O's Golden Swan

Big Joe Dudzick's Tavern

The Broadway Grill

Bramer's Grill

Concord Restaurant

Messner's Aero Bar

Ray Flynn's

Kutas Warsaw Inn

McBride's Pub

Strusienski's Restaurant

Private & Ethnic Clubs

Adam Mickiewicz Library

American Serbian Club

Corpus Christi AC

Croatian "Cro" Club

Dnipro Ukrainian Center

Dom Polski - N Tonawanda

Eldredge Bicycle Club

Polish Cadets

St. Stan's Athletic Club

Third Warders Club

Ukrainian-American Center

FBTV Video

Historic Polonia District

Central Terminal

Polish Home Museum Project

Broadway Market

St. Stanislaus Church

Corpus Christi Church

St. Adalbert's Basilica

Superman Corner

Polonia Views

Eckhardt Department Store

Polish Union of America

PPS Broadway Mkt Report

Polskie Kolo Spiewackie

Lucki Urban

Buffalo's Polonia History

A Polka Moment In Time

Vintage Polka Posters

Pulaski Parade 1962

Pulaski Parade 2006

Pulaski Parade 2008

Broadway Fillmore

Polonia Stories

1910 Maps of Polonia Buffalo

Buffalo Polonia - 1910

Preserve a Polish Home

Kaminski Meats

Polonia Scrapbook

Polonia On Parade

1965 Polka Convention

Polish Paintings

Power To Polonia

Beer Murals Nielsen

Forgotten Bflo Features

Kids & Wigilia Traditions

The Simon Pure Brewery

Lost Bflo Train Stations

New York Central at War

Pennsylvania RR at War

Talkin' Proud!

Buffalo Union Station

Bayliss-Oshei Residence

Niagara Falls Steak Sub

Buffalo Heights

The Statler Hilton

Metro Rail 1973

Bflo Before & After

Retro Chip Collection

Melody Fair - N Tonawanda

Buffalo Courier Express

History in Your Pocket

Corner Store Experience

The Fair

Most Endangered Sites

Re-Light the Rand

Pierogi @ St. Nick's

Whammy Weenie

Skateland - East Ferry

Jimmy Griffin 1929-2008

Jack Kemp 1936-2009

Sattler Theater

Masonic Lodge #846

Broadway Grill Reunion

Vintage Xmas Cards

Bocce Club- Clinton St.

Smiling Ted's

Buffalo Snow

Edsbyn, Sweden

Buffalo Drive-In

Buffalo 1969

Ray Bennett Lumber Co.

Ray H. Bennett Home

Ultra Cool: 70s Buffalo

Buffalo Bowling Shirts

Great Northern Elevator

Pullman / Wagner Complex

Pierogi Capital of US

North Park Theater

Zywiec Brewery

Buffalo Beer Trays

1964 Campaign For Pres

Heritage Discover Ctr

Tale of Two Roundhouses

Brand Names Catalog

Trolley Lobby BCT

Mentholatum, Hyde, Smythe

Chez Ami 311 Delaware Ave

Schreiber Brewery

Forgotten Buffalo Sounds

Sounds of Buffalo Beer

Sounds of Buffalo

Sounds of the Hound

Utica Club Beer Song

Forgotten Buffalo-Lost

Gramza's Cigar Store

Burczynski Bakery

St. Gerard's Parish

The Polish Village

Rudas Record Store

Tondrowski's Shoe Store

The DL&W Terminal

Buffalo Gas Works

S.S. Aquarama/Marine Star

Aquarama - Final Chapter

Sattlers 998

Rivoli Theater - Broadway

H-O Elevator

Riverside Men's Shop

Mastman's Kosher Deli

Crystal Beach

Department Stores

CLASSIC PHOTOS

Bevador/Beerador Coolers

Parkside Candies

Buffalo's Last Roundhouse

Wildroot Factory

Buffalo Stockyards

Chicago Iron Works

Spolka Clothing

Forgotten Ontario

Tim Hortons #1

TH&B Train Station

Ivor Wynne Stadium

Canadian National Station

Minojijikum Island 1076

Forgotten Rochester

Retro Wegmans

Polonia Rochester

Spittoon Water Troughs

Forgotten Buffalo & Genny

Genesee Brewery Tour

Forgotten Bflo Roadtrips

Perreca's Bakery

F.X. Matts - Utica Club

Forgotten Buffalo-Media

Ch. 2: WGR & WGRZ-TV

Rocketship7

Commander Tom Show

Dialing for Dollars

Ed Tucholka

Polonia Media

Greg Chwojdak, WXRL

Tour of Bflo Broadcasting

WKBW Radio

WKBW Top 40 Celebration

KB Goes Kaboom! WKBW

1430 Main St - WKBW RADIO

A Thing of the Past 2006

WKBW's Tommy Shannon

George Hound Dog Lorenz

1420 Main St - WKBW TV

Forgotten Bflo Orchestra

R & L Lounge, 23 Mills St

Union Stock Yards Bank

The Think Bank

The Natural Tour

Preservation Corridors

Broadway

Fillmore Avenue

Lombard Gibson Mktplace

Project Paderewski

Forgotten Buffalo News

Despensata Corporation

Marketplace Kitchen

Buffalo Broadcasting

THE WHAMMY WEENIE


From a Buffalo Evening News Ad, August 31, 1982:

What is a Whammy Weenie? The Whammy Weenie is the ultimate hex in the hand of the fans used to bring calamity to Bills opponent. Yuk! It is a wiener that is rancid, rotten and green...the symbol of all the foul, downright disgusting and repulsive distaste we have for the opposition. When waved in the face of the opponent, its moldy green odor and menacing sound is guaranteed to cause sudden sloppiness, frequent fumbles, inopportune interceptions and downright disorganization. Bills opponents will shake in the wake of the Whammy Weenie. Get yours at Bells today!

Many considered it to be the greatest promotional failure in Buffalo marketing history. The infamous “Whammy Weenie” was created by Bells Supermarkets in 1982 as a fan friendly way of cheering on the struggling Buffalo Bills. Instead, the promotion collapsed under controversy after only three games.  Over the last 25 years, the Weenie has attained mythical status among Western New York sports fans.
 
The early 1980s were a disastrous period in Buffalo Bills history. After the team lost to Cincinnati in the 1981 AFC divisional playoffs, the Bills would only win 4 games during the 1982 regular season. In 1983 the Bills would split the season with a record of 8-8.
 
The “Whammy Weenie” was introduced as a game day noisemaker to “create havoc with the opposition.” It was to be the Buffalo equivalent of Pittsburgh’s “Terrible Towel” or Miami’s “Orange Crush.” The “hex” was in the shape of an 8-inch plastic hot dog with a brightly painted yellow logo and two internal noise-making ball bearings inside. Art Rago produced the original design for the promotion and marketing firm Bon Chance who was contracted to produce the Weenie.
 
The rollout of the “Whammy Weenie” was to be the promotional crown jewels in Bells Markets President Charles Barcelona’s 1982 football tailgate marketing campaign. In anticipation of the start of the season, large, full-page ads were placed in the Buffalo Evening News and supported by radio & television advertising. In-store displays not only featured the “weenie,” but also offered fans Weenie branded coffee mugs, travel pouches, bumper stickers, headgear and apparel.
 
The Weenie was free with a $5.00 purchase from Bells or you could buy it for .49 cents.
 
The promotion extended to game day at Rich Stadium. At one game early in the season, stadium PA announcer and Bells spokesman Danny Neaverth told everyone to “stand up and shake your Weenies!” You can only imagine what actions those words prompted among the drunken adult fans. 
 
The promotion was pure genius until about three games in. Reports began to surface that the yellow paint contained a high level of lead. WBEN program & news director Jim McLaughlin had a Weenie  tested. The study concluded that the paint contained 300 times the allowable levels of lead. Immediately, thousands of Weenies were taken off store shelves and destroyed. Bells offered refunds for returned Weenies. Weenie fans across Western New York disposed their green shakers thus ending the Whammy Weenie’s brief, but historic run in Buffalo sports history.
 
Since 1982, Whammy Weenies have become one of Western New York’s most sought after sports collectable as only a few remained in the collections of die-hard fans. A recent survey of sports memorabilia shops in Buffalo did not locate a single one. In the words of one dealer, “I have not see one of those in years.”
 
But was the Weenie paint really toxic? Did a spat between two former lovers bring down the Weenie promotional empire? Controversy has circulated around the Weenie for decades. In an attempt to “myth bust” this Buffalo urban legend, Forgotten Buffalo will look into what is fact and what is fiction about the Whammy Weenie. Stay tuned.

From Steve Cichon’s StaffAnnouncer.com: A collection of Bells Whammy paraphernalia. A vintage Joe Ferguson jersey is an appropriate backdrop for a 1982 Weenie and a hat promoting the 1983 Talking Proud replacement Whammy.
From Steve Cichon’s StaffAnnouncer.com: A collection of Bells Whammy paraphernalia. A vintage Joe Ferguson jersey is an appropriate backdrop for a 1982 Weenie and a hat promoting the 1983 Talking Proud replacement Whammy. For more great Buffalo history....click image to visit StaffAnnouncer.com


A WEENIE REUNION: Submit A Picture of Your Whammy Weenie to ForgottenBuffalo@aol.com
STEVE CICHON'S Weenie
STEVE CICHON'S Weenie


The OTHER Whammy: Produced by Bells in 1983 after the failure of the Whammy Weenie
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