User:Dandryeyev/sandbox

Traditions and trends have long been a part of society as a way to connect and make statements or as a right of passage from one phase of life to the next. The 20th century saw a great many trends and movements that shaped the United States and its people. Many of these trends and movements took place on college campuses where youthfulness and individuality had great meaning. There were the iconic sweeping movements that defined generations but there were also the more obscure and odd trends that have come and gone with the change of time. One such of these trends was that of Goldfish swallowing in the late 1930's and the impact on the college culture of the time.

Goldfish swallowing was an American school trend popularized in the late 1930's, where a live goldfish was swallowed. Although it is not clear how the fad emerged, various people have made claims. A 1963 letter to the New York Times claimed that it was started by a man named Lothrop Withington Jr., who was a freshman at Harvard University and supposedly did so as part of a bid to become class president. Although once widely practiced, the stunt is rare today.

Another possibility in the origins of goldfish swallowing comes from Chicago bartenders, most notably Matt Schulien (who performed magic while tending bar at his family's restaurant), who would cut up carrots to look like goldfish tails. When performing the stunt, bartenders would reach into a bowl of goldfish kept behind the bar while palming the carrot piece, placing that in between their pursed lips, using their tongues to lever it up and down to mimic the actions of a live fish, finally swallowing the carrot piece. The trick dates back to the 1920s, and some people believe that the fad could have been started by college students fooled by the trick.