The Well-Balanced Beer

Headline writers had a lot of fun with this story. Ruth Shepler was an Iowa barmaid who had a signature bar trick which involved pouring a bottle of beer into a glass while the glass was balanced on her ample "frontage." She could reportedly balance up to four glasses simultaneously.

But when the IRS heard about this, they decided that her trick was really a cabaret show, which meant that she should have been paying cabaret taxes for the previous three years (1952, 1954, and 1955). And they demanded these unpaid taxes, which by their calculations amounted to $44,694.

Shepler hired a lawyer to fight the IRS. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any news reports that tell how her case turned out.

The San Mateo Times - May 25, 1956

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 30, 2014
Category: Entertainment | Government | 1950s

Comments

Ripping off John & Jane since 1950....

If you can't get it from your own employees... go after the little guys.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 12/30/14 at 10:14 AM

"If the government could put a tax on sex, it would."

Posted by KDP on 12/30/14 at 10:34 AM

Nevada.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 12/30/14 at 10:54 AM

I bet Patty could do six glasses with a shot glass tucked in between.

Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 12/30/14 at 03:31 PM

The IRS will just tax anything.

Posted by Gator Guy on 12/30/14 at 07:52 PM

I wouldn't dare try, I couldn't afford the taxes.

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 12/31/14 at 10:14 AM

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