What is the origin of the "underwater basket weaving" meme in Academia?
The earliest reference known to Wikipedia (as shared by jakebeal) is from 1956, but I found a few that were earlier.
First, perhaps a hint as to how this usage evolved, here's a mildly sarcastic 1919 reference about universities that have abandoned the ways of the Ivory Tower to offer such &quot;practical&quot; courses as plumbing and basket weaving (which presumably was a useful vocational skill in those days):

Higher education is becoming very practical indeed. It includes everything nowadays - excepting, of course, Greek and Latin - from plumbing to basket-weaving.
Source: &quot;Studying National Parks,&quot; The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.), August 06, 1919. link

The earliest usage I found that was specifically for &quot;underwater basket weaving&quot; is from 1953. It's in an article about slang used by the &quot;younger generation&quot; (implying that the usage is new, or at least new again):

Any snap course in school is &quot;underwater basket weaving.&quot;
Source: &quot;In a Hepster's Lingo, the Girl Who Likes to Neck is a Giraffe,&quot; Boston Globe, Oct 4, 1953, pg. A50

Throughout the 1950s, there are many references to &quot;basket weaving&quot; in the context of easy courses taken by student athletes.
Here's one such reference from 1952:

These may include courses in life-insurance salesmanship, bee culture, square-dancing, traffic direction, first aid, or basketweaving.
Source: &quot;Magna cum nonsense,&quot; New York Times, March 16, 1952, SM68.

Here's a reference in a quote from one of these athletes, from 1953:

A varsity baseball player said he had received offers from San Francisco University guaranteeing him passing grades.
&quot;I hardly would have had to go to classes,&quot; he said. &quot;They told me I could major in basket weaving if I wanted to.&quot;
Source: &quot;Other Schools Made Bids, Spartan Athletes Content,&quot; Newsday, March 3, 1953, pg. 50

The 1956 reference with &quot;underwater basket weaving&quot; that Wikipedia cites:

Why should he be given a better deal than those students who are attending college in order to get a &quot;real&quot; education ... majoring in underwater basket weaving, or the preparation and serving of smorgasbord, or particularly at Berkeley, the combined course of anatomy and panty-raiding?
Source: &quot;College 'Pro' Football Hit,&quot; Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1956, pg A4

There's also many about plain &quot;basket weaving&quot; that year. For example:

Several schools screamed to high heaven about the fact that these so-called students, or at least the majority of them, couldn't pass the basket weaving examination and that their grade transcripts resembled those of the village idiot.
Source: &quot;Cronin's Corner,&quot; Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1956, pg. B3

and

It was explained rather superciliously that they had a stiff struggle to get minimum passing grades in basket-weaving, musical appreciation or Loaf and Sleep (Letters and Science) courses.
Source: &quot;Sports of the World,&quot; Atlanta Daily World, Nov 13, 1956, pg 5


I found these by searching ProQuest databases, the results unfortunately don't seem to include permanent links. Hence the lack of links.