Participation Trophies Defeated The Great Depression and Won World War Two

6 Responses to Participation Trophies Defeated The Great Depression and Won World War Two

1. Jeremy Redlien says:

   August 18, 2016 at 3:16 pm

   I dunno, its hard to tell from exate dates from this graph, but it looks like participation trophies both started and ended the great depression, while declining greatly in mentions in books searchable be google for the duration of WW2. Thereby not leaving too much of a correlation to work with.

   Why they were most popular in the 1950’s is a mystery though, but it looks like you have a better argument for participation trophies causing the anshluss between Germany and Austria or put a man on the moon then won WW2.
2. Elkins says:

   August 18, 2016 at 4:25 pm

   I find it telling, somehow, that the 1980s were a drought decade for (mention of) participation trophies. Greed Is Good!

   It’s interesting as well, though, because I was a teenager in the 1980s and I could swear that I remember hearing tons of “participation trophies are ruining America!” nonsense even back then. I guess it just didn’t make it into the published works.
3. Jake Squid says:

   August 19, 2016 at 7:30 am

   I could swear that I remember hearing tons of “participation trophies are ruining America!”

   Are you sure that wasn’t just Ed Anger?
4. e says:

   August 19, 2016 at 10:04 am

   I did a quick Google Books search, and it looks like the ones in the 50s are trophies awarded to frats/sororities for their participation in sports or Greek Week. e.g.”He had tears in his eyes because his fraternity had won the all- university participation trophy on the basis of the track meet.” “Alpha Beta, for the second consecutive year, received the WRA Participation Trophy for the best participation in all sports.” “The following week they moved on to victory and won the Greek Week All-Participation trophy.” So not actually an award given to an individual for participating but to a group for getting high levels of participation. And now the word “participation” looks weird…
5. Elkins says:

   August 19, 2016 at 11:55 am

   Are you sure that wasn’t just Ed Anger?

   Heh. I think of Ed Anger often lately. Were his column being published today, I doubt anyone would interpret it as satire.

   But actually, I think it may just have been Chappaqua. It was very much the sort of town where no one could take any real satisfaction in winning anything unless they felt assured that it meant someone else would be losing big.
6. Jake Squid says:

   August 19, 2016 at 12:22 pm

   It was very much the sort of town where no one could take any real satisfaction in winning anything unless they felt assured that it meant someone else would be losing big.

   I never thought about it in those terms but it explains so much. It still is that sort of town.

   And, yeah, good old Ed was decades ahead of his time. If he were alive and active today, he’d be making a fortune in right wing media.

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