# Did COVID kill Kissing Booths at fairs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 5, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113 "2024-02-05T02:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/1 "2024-02-05T02:24:09Z")
I haven’t seen one since 2021, or maybe before that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/2 "2024-02-05T02:25:24Z")
You saw them that recently? Can I ask where? I thought they died off long ago. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/3 "2024-02-05T02:27:24Z")
I’ve never seen one. I turned 49 last month. I grew up in Northern Virginia. I don’t doubt that they existed at some point. But, I’ve only seen them in movies and such. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/4 "2024-02-05T02:31:04Z")
I’ve never seen one either, and I’m in my early sixties. Just another data point– ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/5 "2024-02-05T02:37:25Z")
In Mondo Cane 2 (on Tubi). The Italian filmmakers, with their cultural flair for the grotesque, show it as yucky as it was ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/6 "2024-02-05T02:54:52Z")
The original NorCal Renaissance Faire had a version called “soak a bloke” and “drench a wench”. For a couple of bucks you were given some sponges and shot them with a slingshot at a lineup of members of opposite sex standing just barely within range. The contestant got to kiss anyone they hit. As I recall the booths disappeared in the mid-80s and were replaced by the more sedate version where you’d hit a target and dunk someone in a tub of water. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/7 "2024-02-05T02:59:32Z")
Umm. I’m gonna say it was hard to find women to work them. Since I don’t know, the 50s? Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/8 "2024-02-05T03:47:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Umm. I’m gonna say it was hard to find women to work them. Since I don’t know, the 50s? The movies sure are popular with Kids These Days. > **[The Kissing Booth (film series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kissing_Booth_(film_series))** > > The Kissing Booth film series consists of American teen-romantic comedy films developed and released as Netflix original films, exclusively for the streaming service. Based on the novels written by Beth Reekles, the plot centers around Rochelle "Elle" Evans, and the complications that arise when she begins dating her best friend's older brother. The series explores the teenage experiences of high school, popularity, dating, and friendship. > Although it was poorly-received by critics, the series a... (I saw part of the first one but it was too terrible to finish.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/9 "2024-02-05T04:09:37Z")
Um…what? I’ve only seen them in comics and cartoons. Maybe a movie or TV show, but I’m not even sure there. I’m nearly 50. Oh. Maybe a puppy kissing booth. I feel like I may have seen that in real life. But a kissing booth with humans? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/10 "2024-02-05T04:15:04Z")
Yeah, never seen one and hope never to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/11 "2024-02-05T05:11:37Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I haven’t seen one since 2021, or maybe before that. I have never seen a kissing booth outside of an Archie comic or _Revenge of the Nerds._ ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/12 "2024-02-05T05:27:12Z")
FWIW I have never seen a kissing booth outside of a movie. Not saying they never existed but I think they’d have died off before COVID. I too am surprised the OP saw one so recently. Maybe in the 80s when I was a teen I would pay for that kiss but today me…no way (and not because of COVID). It just seems creepy. Especially now that I am in my 50s. Even if the woman was also in her 50s it just seems weird. Presumably it is a donation. I’ll just put some money in the cup and move on. ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/13 "2024-02-05T06:03:44Z")
The only kissing booth I’ve ever seen was at a fundraising event for the local Human Society. They had a set up where you could pay a couple bucks and get your face “kissed” by one of several adorable puppies. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/14 "2024-02-05T06:10:53Z")
To elaborate the title is an exaggeration, since the only time I have ever seen a Kissing Booth was back in the 90s and it was EXPLICITLY a peck on the cheek for $5 for charity. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/15 "2024-02-05T06:38:43Z")
I mean aren’t they technically illegal? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/16 "2024-02-05T07:13:10Z")
Numerous school fairs, county fairs and state fairs from the 70’s through the 90’s-Never saw a single kissing booth. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/17 "2024-02-05T18:43:24Z")
Add me to the “never seen one in real life” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/18 "2024-02-05T19:35:04Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I’ve never seen one either, and I’m in my early sixties. > > Just another data point– Same here. Except in a few cases where kissing booths really did operate (outside of single-panel comics), I suppose COVID might have been the – you should pardon the expression – Kiss of Death, but I think these attractions disappeared log ago, if they were ever popular at all. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/19 "2024-02-05T19:40:46Z")
> [@Mortimus](#): > > The only kissing booth I’ve ever seen was at **a fundraising event for the local Human Society.** They had a set up where you could pay a couple bucks and get your face “kissed” by one of several adorable puppies. - That’s a wonderful thing the animals are doing for us. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113/20 "2024-02-05T19:46:51Z")
49 years old, never seen one IRL either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-covid-kill-kissing-booths-at-fairs/997113.md?page=2)