[1][2][3] The organization grew out of informal social gatherings of the local police and fire departments, where various tales (of varying degrees of credibility) were frequently swapped.
[1] Freelance reporter Mannel Hahn (sometimes misspelled "Manuel" Hahn) fabricated the news story about a lying contest between the Burlington police and fire departments, and sent it to the Milwaukee Journal and Chicago Daily News—and friendly rival local writer Otis "Otey" Hulett repeated it to the Racine, Wisconsin newspaper.
[1][4] A "runner-up" (not immediately reported by Hulett) was the local police chief, who denied he could (or had) ever tell (or told) a lie (some accounts name him as that year's winner).
[1][3] Subsequently, the group's "annual award" became an object of widespread media and public interest, and the organization became more formal and consistent in its efforts, and broadened its geographic scope.
[6] Though the organization has a policy of not allowing politicians, or other "professional liars," to be considered,[2][8] some notable figures have been awarded either an annual "Professional Class Liar" award (as Nazi propaganda leader Paul Goebbels),[9] or a "lifetime membership" in the club (as with mischievous aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan).
[2] In 2009, it was reported that the dollar fee granted a lifetime membership in the Club, and entitled the holder to submit an unlimited quantity of lies each year.
[3] However, by 2020, only an estimated 75 entries were received in the annual contest—won by the contest's first-ever three-time winner, Daryl Lockwood, of Waupaca, Wisconsin.
The Chicago bar also markets a line of internationally distributed,[36] irreverent and political-themed T-shirts and knick-knacks using "Liars Club" as its brand name.
[37] The term "Liar's Club" has been widely adapted by elements of media, including cartoons—political[38][39] and otherwise[40][41]—and a sport fishermen's radio program.