How did the expression "86'd" come to mean getting thrown out of a place?

Answer 1

For those not familiar with the expression, to ‘eighty-six’ something in a restaurant is to indicate you are out of that item.
There are many stories of the origin of this expression. Here are a few of them. #1 and #2 seem more likely to me, but who knows!

1) Chumley's, a bar in Greenwich Village, which during speakeasy days through unruly customers out the back door, which is number 86 Bedford Street - they were '86'd.'

2) Same bar, Chumley's same time period - the front door address was 86 Worth Street and there was a chalk board inside the front door with the address painted across the top - the chalkboard was were items that had been sold out were posted - it soon became known as the '86' board.


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Answer 2

No proof of this theory.

Get Smart, Maxwell Smart agent 86. One of the Ultimate "Idiots". (That's using the colloquial use of idiot.)

He could "86" anything.