Unidentified contestant: "My great-grandmother’s cow started the
Chicago Fire”
The Great Chicago Fire took place in October, 1871, laying waste to more than three square miles of the city, causing about 300 deaths and leaving another 100,000 homeless. The legend that sprang from the blaze is that it was started when "Mrs O'Leary's cow" kicked over a lantern. The blaze did originate in the vicinity of the O'Leary barn, but the legend grew out of Chicago newspaper reports that published the story about the cow as fact (complete with artist renderings) despite having no evidence. Even after one of the reporters admitted decades later that they made that part of the story up, the legend has persisted. In her day, Mrs O'Leary was vilified, a target of anti-Irish, anti-Catholic and anti-poverty sentiments. In time, the negative elements of the story faded away and she became a mythic cult figure.
Bee McIntyre from Richmond, Virginia: “I am the World’s Champion
liar”
McIntyre won the annual Burlington Liars Club title at the end of 1953, making him the 1954 champion. The Burlington, Wisconsin club (which still exists today) recognizes tall-tale tellers whose stories fall somewhere between lies and jokes. McIntyre's winning entry was abound a strong wind that blew a cast-iron wash kettle out of the country. "And the wind blew that kettle so fast that, while it was sailing across our front yard, the lightning struck at it five times -- and missed." Also see
E122
and E479.
Special guest Arthur Treacher: “Garry is going to be my butler tonight”
Later in his career, Treacher would become known to TV audiences as Merv Griffin's talk show announcer and sidekick, and he would lend his name to a chain of fast-food fish and chips restaurants. At this point in his career, he is best known for a series of butler roles. Among them, he played the PG Wodehouse character Jeeves in two films of the 1930s. In that same decade, he also twice played a butler in Shirley Temple movies.
This episode has not been reviewed. Information comes from alternate sources, including Gil Fates' handwritten notes. Quoted secrets are based on those notes and are believed to be accurate.
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