When we think of wild parties, we picture modern-day house parties, music festivals, or extravagant celebrity bashes. But trust me—nothing is new under the sun! The early 20th century had its own brand of debauchery that shocked polite society, and in some cases, ended in scandal, arrests, or worse.
Hip Flasks and Petting Parties
Let’s begin with the flappers in 1928 and a newspaper article that warned women again hip flasks and petting. The article starts off with a letter from a woman who enjoys going to petting parties. In fact, she met her husband at such a party. She writes:
“Petting is the result of physical maturity. Therefore, it seems to me, the really worthwhile young man is the one who, being of an age to like petting and physical contact with girls, frankly admits that liking and defines his code of honor in such a way as to include the girl who is equally frank.”
The article goes on to tell us that “promiscuous petting, with a kiss for every man, is the code at such parties,” and that these “wild parties often lead to the hospital, sanitarium, prison, or worse.”
Source: The Washington Times. Washington D.C., 21 March 1928.
Safety First – Or Not
A few months later that same year, an advertising salesman had a bit too much to drink at a party and “was killed when he fell six floors during an attempt to prove he could equal the feats performed by the motion picture stars. The boast was made at the height of a wild party.”
Perhaps he should have attended a petting party, instead?
Seward Daily Gateway. Seward, Alaska, 24 Oct. 1928.
Editors Gone Wild
Four year later, in 1932, it was reported that 15 editors of the St. John’s College student publication got themselves into a bit of trouble for throwing a wild birthday party for one of the editors.
Apparently, members of the student council heard loud singing and shouting in the early hours of the morning and saw “the 15 editors dancing with each other, scantily clad, and disturbing sleeping students in the dormitory.”
The Washington Times. Washington D.C., 25 Oct. 1932.
Keep Her Locked Up
Quite a bit of trouble was stirred up in Des Moines, 1948, after a “10-day series of wild parties by more than 30 teenagers who broke into a sheriff’s well-furnished country cabin and used it as a rendezvous.”
The partying was found out after the sheriff discovered his cabin in disarray and an investigation was launched.
The sheriff said, “Parents should be a little more curious when their children don’t get home until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning.”
The sheriff when on to say that more than 20 of the teenagers, ages 15 to 20, admitted to engaging in immoral acts at the beer and liquor parties.
Five youths plead guilty to charges of contributing to the delinquency of girls ages 14 to 16 and were given 30-day jail terms. Nine girls were also taken into custody. Sic of them were released to their parents and three were sent to a juvenile home.
The sheriff said, “The father of one of the girls urged me to keep her locked up, because that’s the only way he could tell where she was.”
Evening star. Washington, D.C., 02 Oct. 1948.
Party In Rome
But these American teenage partiers had nothing on teenagers in Italy. In 1955, there was a strong push to create a national force of policewomen to crack down on delinquent girls and wayward families.
According to one article:
“A series of sex scandals has caused growing concern in Italy over the morals of the young. First came the mystery death of Wilma Montesi, whose nearly nude body was cast up on the sands of Ostia after a wild party. Then a teenage group was caught indulging in sex orgies with a Rome Communist official and his wife. More recently, police discovered a group of girls who held respectable jobs by day and acted as call girls by night. Teenage call girls are frequent in Rome, vice police say.”
Evening star. Washington, D.C., 14 Sept. 1955.
