Of all the social phenomena of the 1970s, one of the least practiced but most discussed was swinging, sometimes called partner swapping or wife swapping. Though few couples actually indulged in this practice, there were enough who did, or who knew about someone who did, to give the phenomenon widespread awareness. When the trend lost its popular buzz, however, swinging returned to what it had always been—the casual avocation of a group of hardcore enthusiasts.

There have always been swingers throughout history. The Bible records enough incidents of men lying down with other men's handmaidens to fill the Penthouse letters page many times over. And informal "clubs" devoted to extramarital experimentation have been around from the early days of the Republic. But the emergence of "swinging" as a loosely organized lifestyle coincided with America's "sexual revolution" in the 1960s.

Generally conducted at poolside parties and potluck dinners...