The History of Kissing

No one really knows how it all started.on the subject of kissing. One of the lesser-known
Oneless-than-romantic theory is that it was originally aworks is The Art of Kissing, written by Hugh Morris in
preamble to the act of regurgitation. In the days before1936. The book analyses every aspect of the kiss and
Heinz baby food, spoons and Moulinex blenders, cavean entire chapter is devoted to How to Kiss Girls with
mothers fed their young offspring by chewing morselsDifferent Sizes of Mouth - a useful manual for any
of food, liberally drenched with saliva, and poking theman confronted with the voluminous, bee-stung lips of
masticated mess into their mouths with their tongues.today's collagen-implanted females.
Anthropologists pooh-pooh this theory saying that, if"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop
this was the case, mouth kissing would have gone onspeech when words become superfluous."- Ingrid
in all societies and eras, which it did not. In parts ofBergman
Japan, Siberia and among the Eskimo culture, rubbingIf kissing was slow to catch on in evolutionary terms,
noses was, until modern times, the only kind of kissingscientists concede that it has become part of "natural"
that went on. Certain ancient Finnish tribes believedhuman behaviour today. In trials they have found that,
kissing to be distasteful and indecent, even though theywhen seeing a woman he is attracted to, a man's
happily bathed naked together. In Asia, for centuries,saliva fills with the male hormone testosterone. Kissing
the bow was the traditional greeting and kissing wouldpasses some of those hormones on to the female,
only go on in private. In Roman times, kissing was anmaking her more in the mood for love.
act of homage used to denote status, ranked by theAccording to another survey, people who kiss their
body parts someone was permitted to kiss. Importantpartners goodbye when they leave for work in the
nobles kissed cheeks or hands while lesser mortalsmorning tend to earn much higher salaries than those
had to make do with feet kissing.who don't.
However, somehow, lip contact caught on and soonAnd the scientist who said not all of us kiss the right
became more adventurous. According to Chinese Taoway? He was Professor Onur Gunturkun from
tradition, a perfect balance of yin and yang is onlyGermany's Ruhr University who discovered that two
achieved with an exchange of "liquid jade" - morethirds of people tilt their heads to the right when kissing,
prosaically-known as saliva. Or what we would call awhich means that the other one third who tilt their
French kiss.heads to the left are not doing it the "right"
"I have found men who didn't know how to kiss. I'veway…
always found time to teach them." - Mae WestSta-kiss-stics
Kissing, in the days before toothpaste and dental floss,At the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in 1990, Alfred
must have been a grim affair. To make it moreWolfram from New Brighton, kissed 8001 people in 8
palatable, young maids would carry a clove-studdedhours - over sixteen people a minute.
apple when courting, exchanging a bite for a kiss. TheBetween 1st and 6th May 1978 Americans Bobbi
apple helped to clean the suitor's teeth and the clovesSherlock and Ray Blazina held a kiss-in that lasted for
to sweeten his breath. Perhaps Clark Gable should130 hours and 2 minutes.
have taken a leaf out of that particular history bookIn 1896, John C. Rice and May Irwin became the first
when filming Gone With the Wind. Reportedly, hiscouple to be recorded kissing in a film called The Kiss.
screen lover Vivien Leigh didn't want to kiss himThe longest kiss in film history was between Jane
because he had halitosis.Wyman and RayTooney in the 1941 film, You're in the
Kissing has not always been socially acceptable. In 16thArmy Now. The kiss lasted three-and-a-half minutes.
century Naples, it was an offence that carried theAccording to legend, any person who kisses the
death penalty. In Hartford, Connecticut, an old law stillBlarney Stone at Cork's 15th century Blarney Castle
makes it illegal for a man to kiss his wife on a Sunday.will be endowed with the gift of eloquence and
And in Indiana there used to be a law preventing menpersuasive flattery.
with moustaches from kissing, presumably on theChile holds the world record for the largest number of
grounds of hygiene.people kissing, set in 2004 in the capital of Santiago
Countless poems, odes and books have been writtenwhen 4,400 kissing couples locked lips en masse.