# Have you ever seen or participated in a kissing booth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434 "2008-03-15T02:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/21 "2008-03-15T21:24:09Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] The following happened at my university: some dude and some girl: _are selling kisses for charity_ me: How much? dude: $2. me: Here’s $2. Pucker up. dude: Uh… maybe you’d be interested in Megan? me: Forget Megan. I choose you, Pikachu. dude: … me: Oh, don’t wuss out. This is for CHARITY. dude: … _restrained heterosexual panic_ me: _GLOMP_ [/QUOTE] That…is awesome. I would give you $2 to see you glomp him a second time. 🙂 It’s just a kiss, people, not a wedding! I’ve never seen a kissing booth, but in my single days, I probably would have been too self-conscious to participate at either end. Nowadays, I’m more confident, but I’d leave a trail of men (and possibly women too) with broken hearts after noticing my wedding rings. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/22 "2008-03-15T21:33:13Z")
The college seniors had “senior night” where you’d kiss a senior for a dollar. You’d get some tongue and it was about 5 seconds long. Depended on the kisser and the payee, of course. Most of the guys at that school were gay, so the girls were happy that I’d come along. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/23 "2008-03-16T20:22:19Z")
When I was in Boy Scouts, my troop was working some sort of of local telethon in Phoenix, Arizona and the woman who was playing Ellie Mae Clampett, a Miss Arizona, and some other beauty queen offered to host a kissing booth for one hour. I was at the front of the line with my $5 (a lot of money at the time for me - now that I think of it, it still is). A news photographer snapped it and it appeared in the local paper. I was the envy of every young boy in the Valley of the Sun for a while (and maybe some not so young). ---
**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:** [March 16, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/24 "2008-03-16T22:25:53Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] Yep, my Catholic School had a carnival fund-raiser every year, and one of the features was a kissing booth. [/QUOTE] My head just exploded. I likes me some kiss’n but I can’t imagine in todays age how something like this could even be considered. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/25 "2008-03-17T03:40:09Z")
What kind of kiss do you get? I always assumed it was a kiss on the check, but some of the responses here imply something more - one even talked about tongue. So what do you get? Is there a cold sore factor? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/26 "2008-03-17T03:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=Millit the Frail] Nowadays, I’m more confident, but I’d leave a trail of men (and possibly women too) with broken hearts after noticing my wedding rings. [/QUOTE] Do you have multiple spouses? ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/27 "2008-03-17T03:56:39Z")
Thirty years ago, for a “fair” related to my workplace, I had a tee shirt made with a message: Kisses: 5¢ Six for 25¢ Big wet ones: 50¢ All kisses guaranteed. I made three bucks. (for charity, of course.) Years later, when the shirt was quite old, and tattered, I put a large block letter addition across it. SALE! 20% OFF. Tris ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/28 "2008-03-17T04:36:48Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] What kind of kiss do you get? I always assumed it was a kiss on the check, but some of the responses here imply something more - one even talked about tongue. So what do you get? Is there a cold sore factor? [/QUOTE] No cheek. Mouth, at least "damp’, likely open mouth, maybe tongue.Of course it helped if you were Ok looking, didn’t have bad breath, etc. A slob/troll _might_ get a cheek. Hunky McHunkerson might get 1st base. Note that the peak came before the prevelance of Herpes. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/29 "2008-03-17T05:29:36Z")
[QUOTE=Millit the Frail] That…is awesome. I would give you $2 to see you glomp him a second time. 🙂 It’s just a kiss, people, not a wedding! I’ve never seen a kissing booth, but in my single days, I probably would have been too self-conscious to participate at either end. Nowadays, I’m more confident, but I’d leave a trail of men (and possibly women too) with broken hearts after noticing my wedding rings. 🆒 [/QUOTE] Dude, I’d pay $2 just to see what a glomp is! Snog I understand, as well as mmphmph, but glomp is a new one to me. Almost sounds like you ate his lips, and not in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/30 "2008-03-17T17:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Heh, in our version, the entire POINT was that it gave you an excuse to kiss people of other than your preferred gender, with no strings attached and no committments So would girls be lining up to kiss other girls? I can see this working out. “How much did our sorority make at the charity fair?” “Well, we made $50 selling kisses.” “That’s not very much.” “But we also made $5000 for letting frat boys watch.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/31 "2008-03-17T18:22:04Z")
This one time, at summer camp? There was some sort of activity night where each cabin had something fun for other campers to experience, the cost being one fake “dollar.” It might have been getting your picture taken with a celebrity cutout, or playing on a jungle gym for 5 minutes or whatever. I don’t even remember what any of them were, except for two. One of the boys’ cabins set up a haunted house. I paid my “dollar”, walked about three feet in, then asked for my dollar back. I totally chickened out. One of the girls’ cabins had – well, I didn’t know what it was at first, but this really really cute older woman (maybe twelve?) asked me if I wanted to kiss her. Oh hell no! I cast my eyes down and quickened my pace. It was a night of fear for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/32 "2008-03-17T18:45:06Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] Forget Megan. I choose you, Pikachu. [/QUOTE] BWAAHahahahahaha I’ve seen one, well, it was empty at the time as the fair was not up. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/33 "2008-03-17T19:35:35Z")
Yeah, I forgot to also show my giggling for the entire Pikachu comment too. ---
**Author:** ![ThirdCultureKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@ThirdCultureKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdCultureKid)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/34 "2008-03-17T19:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] The following happened at my university: some dude and some girl: _are selling kisses for charity_ me: How much? dude: $2. me: Here’s $2. Pucker up. dude: Uh… maybe you’d be interested in Megan? me: Forget Megan. I choose you, Pikachu. dude: … me: Oh, don’t wuss out. This is for CHARITY. dude: … _restrained heterosexual panic_ me: _GLOMP_ [/QUOTE] AWESOME. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/35 "2008-03-17T21:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] My only experience with a kissing “booth” (thinly disguised as a game) was at the Renaissance Faire in Novato, north of SF. In my case, yes, it was “full-on tonsil hockey”. 🙂 The year after my above experience, the booth had vanished. In the intervening time, AIDS had been first recognized. [/QUOTE] I was going to mention the same thing. As in the same Ren Faire in the same place - the game was something like launching wet sponges out of a toy catapult at a group of men/women, whoever you hit (and if the shooter was attractive the targets would reach out to catch wide shots) you smooched. I was there with some friends including the first girl I ever dated (and never kissed). She got quite the “glomp” (to borrow matt\_mcl’s sound effect) from an older guy. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/36 "2008-03-18T03:01:22Z")
I have had a board crush on you for years, **matt**. You are just too damn cute and funny. Too bad I’m a girl! I don’t think I’ve seen a kissing booth, even at the two different RenFaires I’ve been to. Hmm. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/37 "2008-03-18T03:29:42Z")
> [@](#): > > …at the Renaissance Faire in Novato… The booths were called _“Soak-A-Bloke”_ and _“Drench-A-Wench”_ . For a buck or two, you got to shoot sponges at the kisser or your choice. My roommate worked in one of the booths…he came home with a wench more than once. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/38 "2008-03-18T20:25:02Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] The booths were called _“Soak-A-Bloke”_ and _“Drench-A-Wench”_ . For a buck or two, you got to shoot sponges at the kisser or your choice. My roommate worked in one of the booths…he came home with a wench more than once. [/QUOTE] I remember those! One year one of the wenches had a full beard; there was a lot of traffic around that booth. Ren Faires are the only place I’ve ever seen them, and I’m so old that that when I was in high school we had something called Slave Days, where members of the freshman class were _auctioned off_ to upper classmen. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/39 "2008-03-19T11:43:11Z")
Slightly O.T. but has anyone ever come across a"Speak your Weight"machine? I’ve heard plenty of jokes about them but have never ever seen one. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434/40 "2008-03-19T17:03:56Z")
I’d seen them in TV and movies but never in real life til two years ago, at the NYC Burning Man Decom. Someone wanted to be relieved and asked me to take over, but I was too shy, and too insecure about my appearance. There was also a cool “spin the bottle” device in another room, constructed sort of like a standing sundial, with two bottles that could spin independently - one to determine who you would kiss, and another to determine whether it was a kiss, or something… else 😉 I did play that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-or-participated-in-a-kissing-booth/441434.md?page=1)