“Wearing a red knit swimsuit with white stockings and slippers, Miss Ruth Harkins was overcome almost to a point of weakness. She had just been announced the 1922 Inland Empire Mermaid Queen in a beauty competition sponsored by Spokane’s evening paper, The Spokane Daily Chronicle.”So began a bit posted in The Splash: Liberty Lake’s Community Newspaper, September 12, 2022, a story by Ross Schneidmiller of the Liberty Lake Historical Society. 

“A flurry of excitement began days earlier when the paper announced: “Chronicle Wants To Find Most Beautiful Mermaid.” To find her, the Chronicle conduced a special contest that ran from August 1-16, when a final selection was made at a parade on the shores of Liberty Lake. 
“The mermaids were to be judged on beauty of face, beauty of figure, grace of figure and bearing and general fitness. ……. meeting at the Davenport Hotel on the 17th of August  and the judges selected the finalists from the 117 photos submitted,” the newspaper reported at the time. 

“The day of the event began when the 50 finalists were paraded up Monroe Street having left the Chronicle building at 12:30pm, heading for Liberty Lake in a 20-car motorcade….. arriving at the lake, they were given a special dressing area in the large 300-room bathhouse to change into their costumes….. the 50 mermaids appeared before the judges at 1:45pm and the beach parade was staged at 4:00pm when the winners were announced. …. after being presented with five gold coins in front of 4000 spectators, Miss Harkins declared, “It seems like a dream….I’m afraid someone will pinch me and I’ll wake up.” The contestants were then treated to a dinner and a dance in their honor. 

** Jim Kershner’s 100 Years Ago Today for 19 August 1922 quoted the Chronicle story as saying “she won $100, a new bathing suit and a 3-pound box of chocolates.”