138     June 1, 1955
Bill, Jayne, Henry, Laraine Day

Joyce Badgett: “I am one of a set of quadruplets” 
The quads, which include sisters Jeraldine, Joan, and Jeanette, were born on February 1, 1939 in Galveston, Texas.  They were dubbed “the miracles of Treasure Isle” by the press and, like so many multiple births of the era, became media darlings.  The town of Galveston built a new home for them, with the condition that visitors be allowed into the home for several hours each day so that the public could see the quartet and take pictures.  As they got older their celebrity waned, so that by the time of this Secret, the high schoolers were leading relatively normal lives.   

Jack Stewart: “My great-great-grandfather built the first bathtub in the US (1842)” 
The story of Cincinnati’s Adam Thompson being the first American to take a bath on December 20, 1842 is colorful, entertaining…and a complete fabrication.  Journalist and satirist H.L Mencken combined both those interests in a 1917 newspaper article about the history of the bathtub.  The article looked authentic, but Mencken had made the whole thing up.  His satiric goal was to prove how easily readers could fall for inaccurate reporting that was well written.  He admitted his hoax in an essay eight years later, but his plan worked too well.  Many didn’t believe (or never read) the confession and continued to believe the “facts” of the original article, some of which continue to be espoused as facts even today. Stewart could not be related to a fictional character, so he’s probably putting one over on the Secret staff here, or the show is putting one over on its audience.   

Special guest Zippy the Chimp has a secret for each panelist 
Zippy puts on Laraine’s lipstick, washes one of Bill’s socks and smokes one of Jayne’s Winston cigarettes.  Eventually, as happens just about every time he appears, Zippy gets loose and wanders all over the stage.