yesterdaysprint:

The Times Recorder, Zanesville, Ohio, March 23, 1926

On February 22, 1926, theater producer Earl Carroll threw a birthday party for William R. Edrington (one of his chief backers) at his Earl Carroll Theater in New York. Guests, who numbered about 300, included author Irvin S. Cobb; the infamous Vera, Countess of Cathcart; publisher Conde Nast; commentator Walter Winchell; actress Peggy Hopkins Joyce; and Harry Thaw (who, in 1906, had murdered Stanford White in a fit of jealous rage on the rooftop of Madison Square Garden. He was released in 1915 following a protracted legal battle only to be arrested again a year later, in 1916, for the sexual assault and kidnapping of Frederick Gump, 19. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and again released in 1924 when a judge ruled he was sane once more).

The highlights of the party included Carroll’s Vanities girls handing out canapes in lingerie; a hot dog stand; two orchestras; a bathing suit competition and a Charleston contest, with a box silk and lace underwear as a prize for the winner, who had to then model them for everyone (and when it took too long for her to try each item on, other ladies - including one young lady named Joyce Hawley - were asked to join her on stage to show them off).

Joyce Hawley, the girl in the tub:

The party came to it’s climax when a bathtub was wheeled onto the center of the stage at 4 am. The tub was then filled with champagne, although later Carroll would claim it was only ginger ale (Canada Dry to be exact). Carroll stood on a chair beside the bath held up an opera cloak or evening wrap which he slowly lifted while Hawley took off the lingerie she had put on after the Charleston contest. Then Joyce Hawley climbed naked into the tub. Carroll, standing on his chair, announced to the guests that they should grab a glass and form a single file line and take a drink from the tub. 

Composograph of the party from the Evening Graphic (Joyce Hawley in the tub while Dorothy Knapp does the Charleston and Harry Thaw rubs his paws together in delight):

After five or ten minutes Hawley said she was too cold (according to her testimony the tub was only filled with an inch and a half of wine, whether the champagne - or red wine, that was also debated - served to guests was from dipping glasses into the small amount in the tub, from a bottle she dispensed it from, or from the tub’s spigot was never fulled explained) and Carroll called the drinkers away from the bath, handing the girl two Turkish towels. Hawley redressed and began to dance with the others again, the tub was rolled off to the side of  the stage, and the night might’ve lived on only as another debauched party in the memories of the 300 elite guests, had not one of them - Philip Payne - been the editor of the Daily Mirror.

While there was a general taboo against party goers and journalists reporting about the goings-on at these parties, Payne couldn’t resist, and his paper published a front page story about the night. Immediately federal agents were called upon to act.

Lincoln Evening Journal, Nebraska, May 25, 1926:

Joyce Hawley wasn’t considered a very credible star witness, however. Even the prosecution didn’t seem to like her much. She vacillated and attempted to blackmail Carroll in return for false testimony, and when that didn’t work, she turned on him. 

El Paso Herald, Texas, May 27, 1926:

Following the trial in May, a huge media circus, Carroll - who stated no one climbed in, fell in, or was pushed into the tub - was found not guilty of the liquor charges - it wasn’t illegal to have alcohol at private parties, it was only illegal to buy it or sell it. He was, however, sentenced to six months in prison for perjury: no one believed the bathtub was full of ginger ale or that Joyce Hawley had not sat in it. 

Carroll’s lawyer claimed he’d only told untruths to protect the names of his guests, the prosecutor claimed he’d perjured himself to protect his bootlegger, and the judge said it didn’t matter why he’d lied, or even if he’d ‘lied like a gentleman’, he was still a liar.

The Decatur Herald, Illinois, May 28, 1926: