In these colorized photographs, we will take a look at how this bizarre fad started with an undergrad’s friendly bet and how it spread around the country. We will also look at the fallout from this viral trend and how it still echoes in pop culture today.

It All Started at Harvard

The year was 1939 and Lothrop Withington, Jr. was a freshman at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was likely trying to impress his new classmates, so he told them some outlandish brags. He informed them that he had once swallowed a live fish. His new buddies were skeptical. They called his bluff by offering him $10 to do it again. At this point, Lothrop couldn’t refuse. On March 3, with a crowd of cheering and chanting students and one newspaper reporter from nearby Boston, Lothrop fished a three-inch goldfish out of a bowl and dropped the poor creature down his throat with a few chews and one big swallow. 

Thanks to that one newspaper reporter who witnessed Lothrop Withinton, Jr.’s goldfish gulping stunt, news of the incident was published in local newspapers. Soon after, the story spread to publications around the country. Some notable magazines and newspapers covered the story of the freshman’s shocking stunt, including Life magazine. Lothrop was interviewed several times. He was quoted as saying, “The scales caught a bit on my throat as it went down.” Ewww. 

Students at other college campuses didn’t want to see Harvard getting all the attention. Many of them began their own goldfish swallowing. It was a viral trend, like the ice bucket challenge or eating Tide pods, or that challenge where people dress up like famous paintings. Naturally, the students turned this trend into a competition. The University of Pennsylvania held a contest to see who could swallow the most goldfish. The winning student gulped 25 of them. Not to be outdone, a student at MIT swallowed 42 goldfish. The record, however, went to Joseph Deliberato of Clack University. In April of 1939, he managed to down 89 goldfish at one time.

The goldfish swallowing fad wasn’t just a guy thing. Female students wanted in on the action, too. As rivalries heated up between colleges, there were even all-girl goldfish swallowing teams.

There Ought to Be a Law Against That

In just a short time, swallowing goldfish was such a big fad that something needed to be done about it. George Krapf, a Massachusetts state senator, proposed a bill that called for a ban on goldfish swallowing. The bill said, in part, that the goal was “to preserve the fish from cruel and wanton consumption.” Animal rights groups, including the Animal Rescue League, also advocated for the abolishment of goldfish swallowing. As quickly as the fad started, it ended. 

The collegiate goldfish swallowing fad of 1939 didn’t end entirely. The film industry kept the concept alive by including it in movies about entitled college kids and wild frat house antics. In more recent years, YouTubers and others on social media have resurrected the trend as a way to gain more followers through shock value. As before, animal protection groups, such as PETA, protest the fad as cruel. In some areas, goldfish gobblers could face fines.

Don’t Try This at Home

If you think eating a live goldfish is sickening, you are right. The trend could make a person physically sick. Goldfish are known to carry mycobacteria that can be quite harmful if ingested. The goldfish could also carry other diseases or parasites. Although most people who were sickened by swallowing goldfish just had bad stomach aches, it is possible that a person could get severely ill or even die from the bacteria on goldfish. It is an awful thing to do to the goldfish, it is unethical, it can make you sick, and it is a fad that had its heyday more than eighty years ago. All this means you really shouldn’t try this at home.