Entry in progress—B.P.
 
Wikipedia: Pulled pork
Pulled pork is a form of barbecue. It is known as Carnitas in Mexico. It is a method of preparation in which pork, usually shoulder cut (sometimes referred to as Boston butt) or mixed cuts, is cooked using a low-heat, long-cook method. With these extended times at low temperatures, the meat becomes tender enough that its weakened connective tissue allows the meat to be “pulled”, or easily broken into individual pieces. Pulled pork is found around the world in a variety of forms.
 
Preparation
In the United States, pulled pork is commonly slow-cooked by a smoking method, though a non-barbecue method might also be employed using a slow cooker or a domestic oven.
 
The preparation of pulled pork differs from region to region. In areas such as Tennessee, pulled pork is typically made from a mixture of the blade shoulder and arm shoulder meat and served with a tomato-based barbecue sauce. In areas such as North Carolina, either a whole hog, mixed cuts of the hog, or the shoulder cut alone are commonly used, and the pork is served with a vinegar-based sauce or no sauce.
 
Pulled pork is most commonly served on a sliced bun as a sandwich or by itself.
 
(Oxford English Dictionary)
pulled, adj.
Of meat (orig. poultry, later esp. pork): prepared by being cooked (in later use spec. barbecued) until it is tender enough to be easily cut or torn into small pieces. Now chiefly U.S.
1737 E. SMITH Compleat Housewife (ed. 8) 24 Pull’d Chickens. Boil six Chickens..flea them, and pull the white flesh all off..put it in a stew-pan with half a pint of cream.
1749 Defoe’s Roxana (new ed.) 358 We ordered for Supper a Cod to be boiled, a Fricasey of Rabbits, and two pulled Chickens.
1786 Yorks. Mag. July 199/2 There is not a cook between London and the Land’s End who knows how to dress a turtle or a pulled fowl.
1800 E. MOXON Eng. Housewifery (ed. 14) 29 How to make pulled Rabbits.
1834 F. MARRYAT Peter Simple I. x. 123 (heading) A treat for both parties of pulled-chicken, at my expense.
1874 Belgravia Nov. 61 He found himself dispensing pulled chickens, pâté de foie gras, and cup to his really lovely relatives and their buxom mamma.
1922 A. JEKYLL Kitchen Ess. 143 Here is a good recipe for a Réchauffé after the stages of pulled, grilled, and devilled have been passed.
1977 New Mexican (Santa Fe) 2 June D7 (advt.) Barbecue pulled pork 1 lb..potato salad..cole slaw..all for $3.89.
1983 Nation’s Restaurant News 21 Nov. 114/3 One large display case holds barbecued chicken, ribs and duck; North Carolina pulled pork with barbecue sauce [etc.].
2006 Dallas Morning News (Nexis) 12 May (Guide section) 4 Barbecue platters offer pulled pork, pulled chicken, smoked turkey and sausage.
 
Google News Archive
20 July 1983, Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance-Star, pg. 39, col. 2 ad:
Barbeque
The old-fashioned kind. Hickory-smoked, hand-pulled pork barbecue.
(Shoney’s restaurant—ed.)
 
8 March 1984, Mobile (AL) Register, pg. 49 ad:
DELI-MAN DELICIOUS
BAR-B-Q PULLED PORK
LB. $3.99
(Food World—ed.)
 
Google Books
16 April 1984, New York magazine, pg. 94, col. 3:
And though I’ve made no secret of my passion for pig, I’m scarcely an expert on pulled pork ($6.95), “an old Southern delicacy.” Still, with its tangy dressing on a good sesame roll, it’s irresistible junk food to me.
(Hard Rock Cafe—ed.)
   
Google Books
Southern Food: at home, on the road, in history
By John Egerton and Ann Bleidt Egerton
New York, NY: Knopf : Distributed by Random House
1987
Pg. 160:
Kentucky’s barbecue traditions are heavily concentrated in the western end of the state, in places like Mayfield, where Keith Weaks and his son David operate Fat Boy’s Bar-BQ, a pit dispensing pulled pork shoulder meat slowly…
   
9 January 1987, Richomd (VA) Times-Dispatch, “Bon Air restaurant puts new emphasis on menu” by Ellen Masica, pg. B4:
Joseph reports that top sellers at his restaurant are the barbecued ribs and a pulled pork sandwich stuffed enough to give your mouth a stretch.