One of the more sensational news stories of the 1920′s was the marriage and divorce of Frances (”Peaches”) Heenan and Eddie W. (“Daddy”) Browning. Peaches married the 51 year old Daddy when she was 16, with Peaches’ mother coming along for the ride, receiving pin money from Daddy.

Browning began separation proceedings a year later, in 1926. Much of the suit took place in children’s court with Daddy claiming Peaches’ mother was not a fit guardian for his wife. During the trial a boarding house landlady told of riotous parties thrown by the Heenan family which led to their eviction.

A few years later Peaches would sue for divorce, claiming that she had a detective follow a limousine carrying Daddy and two high school twins named Marion and Evelyn Jenis down a lover’s lane.

During the divorce proceedings, Peaches told of Daddy’s strange bedroom behavior. She claimed he kept a goose in the bedroom, and that he used euphemisms like “Honk! Honk! It’s the bonk!” when he wanted sex, and yelled at her “Woof! Woof! Don’t be a goof!” when she was not in the mood. She also claimed that she was attacked by an unknown assailant with acid while she slept.  Peaches asked for a large settlement but the judge believed most of her testimony was malicious falsities and she didn’t receive much. She went on to have a career in vaudeville, remarrying three times. Upon Daddy’s death she received $6000.

The photos above, known as composographs, were shown in the New York Graphic, a tabloid paper published from 1924 to 1932.