I have downed my share of wings but will go out on a limb here and say this chicken wing business is the biggest marvels of marketing cons that I have ever seen. Wings used to be CRAP, left over after you ate the REAL chicken. Now they’re treated as gourmet food — and priced accordingly.
When I was in the 1950s submarine service and the cook served chicken, we ran and file always got wings and backs. I fondly remember one old salt saying that the chickens ran forward (officers’ mess) and flew aft (enlisted mess).
Isn’t that the truth! When I was a kid my mom used to make chicken soup with wings because they were so cheap. Soup bones used to be free...just had to ask the butcher for some. Now they actually are packaged and priced.