Turkey trot (dance)

Driven largely by youth counterculture of the time, the turkey trot fad quickly fell out of favor as the foxtrot, a much more conservative dance step based on the waltz, rose to popularity in 1914.

It has been said that dancers John Jarrott and Louise Gruenning introduced this dance as well as the Grizzly Bear at Ray Jones Café in Chicago, IL.

Irene and Vernon Castle raised its popularity by dancing the Turkey Trot in the Broadway show The Sunshine Girl.

Conservative members of society felt the dance promoted immorality and tried to get it banned at public functions, which only served to increase its popularity.

The song "Let's Turkey Trot" by "Little Eva" Boyd and the Cookies (sometimes misattributed to Carole King) reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1963, fifty years after the dance step's heyday.

"Even the Place Where the Turkey Trot Originated was Trotless and Quiet."—1914 cartoon by John T. McCutcheon showing no dancing even at the Barbary Coast, San Francisco , a demonstration of the dance's dramatic decline in popularity. [ 1 ]