Beauty Pageant History

Beauty Pageant History

Each year there are an estimated 700,000 beauty pageants being held in the United States alone. How did this phenomenon start – and how did it grow to be such a major part of our culture?

In 1921 a group of hotel owners in Atlantic City were looking for a promotional gimmick to entice summer tourists to stay in town past Labor Day. They decided to stage a fall festival and include a "National Beauty Tournament" on the beach to select "the most beautiful bathing beauty in America". Eastern newspaper editors were invited to run photo contests to pick winners to represent their communities at the new pageant.

Eight contestants competed for the first Miss America title which was won by a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl named Margaret Gorman, representing the nation's capital as Miss Washington D.C. The “bathing beauty” image remained throughout the 1920’s and Miss America was crowned wearing her bathing suit and smiling at the ever increasing numbers of spectators.

During the 1930’s the contest added an optional talent competition as a reflection of the nation's growing fascination with Hollywood. Winners received Hollywood screen tests and Hollywood agents scoured the pageant looking for potential starlets. Some contestants made it to Hollywood including Dorothy Lamour (1935) who later co-starred with Bob Hope in the Road Picture series. In 1938 the talent competition became a mandatory category of the pageant.

In 1932 Marian Bergeron, a 15-year-old policeman’s daughter, won the pageant and became the first winner to be crowned in an evening gown rather than a swimsuit.

During the 1940’s pageant officials considered discontinuing the Miss America Pageant for the duration of World War II, but the decision was made to allow it to continue since it was felt that the pageant strengthened the American spirit. In 1945 Lenora Slaughter, the first female director of the Miss America Pageant, began a scholarship program to help contestants attend college. Miss New York, Bess Myerson, won the title and the first
scholarship.

The evolving pageant hit a milestone during the 1950’s when the new Miss America Yolande Betbeze (1951) refused to pose in a swimsuit, insisting that she was a classical singer, not a pin-up. Officials supported her decision and one of the major sponsors of the pageant, Catalina Swimwear, discontinued its sponsorship and began planning its own promotional vehicle, the sexier sister pageants, "Miss USA" and "Miss Universe."

Another important benchmark was the inauguration of the first Miss World Pageant in 1951 held to promote the Festival of Britain. Miss Sweden, Kiki Haakonson, won. The new contest adopted the slogan "Beauty with a Purpose" and aligned itself with Variety Clubs International to raise funds for world charities.

Catalina held the Miss USA-Miss Universe sister pageants together in Long Beach, California in 1952. Thirty American women competed for the first Miss USA title and twenty nine international contestants competed for the first Miss Universe title.

In 1954 the first live coast-to-coast broadcast of the Miss America Pageant aired on television. Lee Meriwether was awarded the crown by a panel of judges that included movie queen Grace Kelly.

Television personality, Bert Parks was hired as the Miss America Pageant's master of ceremonies in 1955. He sang Bernie Wayne's tune, There She Is for the first time on national TV. A legend was born.

In 1958 Jaycees began the America's Junior Miss Pageant, a scholarship program to recognize outstanding achievement by high school seniors. Contestants were judged on talent, poise, community service, and school grades. Rather than present the teenagers in swimsuits, officials substituted a choreographed physical fitness competition.

Corrine Huff made history in 1960 when she won the Miss Iowa-USA title and became the first black woman to win a state title and compete in a major national pageant, the Miss USA Pageant.

Children’s Beauty Pageants were introduced in 1960 when the first international pageant for children was staged in Miami, Florida--"Little Miss Universe." The contest was discontinued in 1966.

The "Little Miss America Pageant" contest started in New Jersey in 1961, affiliated with Palisades Amusement Park. That was also the year the Miss Teenage America Pageant was founded as a program to honor young women’s achievement. Following the example of America’s Junior Miss, the scholarship pageant had no swimsuit competition.

In the year 1968 the first Miss Black America Pageant was held in Atlantic City as a protest against the absence of black women in the Miss America Pageant. Two years later Cheryl Browne won the Miss Iowa title and became the first African-American woman to compete in the Miss America Pageant.

Another controversy surfaced in 1968 when The Women's Liberation Front protested the Miss America Pageant as FBI anti-riot squads kept them under surveillance. The picketers tossed symbols of the beauty culture into a "freedom trash can" and infiltrated Convention Hall during the pageant creating a commotion that was audible during the telecast.

The 1970’s saw the inauguration of several new contests: The Miss National Teen-Ager Pageant was founded in 1971 as a scholarship pageant, the Miss United Teenager Pageant began in 1974 as well as a children’s scholarship pageant named after a favorite fairy tale, The Cinderella Pageant. The Miss Teen All America Pageant began in 1977 and The Mrs. America Pageant was revived as a glamorous televised beauty pageant for married women.

Feminists returned to Atlantic City in 1974 where they staged a feminist conference and protested the Miss America pageant.

In the year 1973 the Miss Universe Pageant began a tradition of televising from exotic locales around the globe when it was broadcast live worldwide via satellite for the first time from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.

'TEEN Magazine acquired the rights to the Miss Teenage America Pageant from the Dr. Pepper Company in 1981 and transformed it into a nationwide mail-entry contest celebrating teen achievement. Finalists are judged on grades, community service, and intelligence. The winner serves as a ‘TEEN columnist and spokesperson

Marking the most important racial milestone in pageant history in l983, Vanessa Williams became the first African-American to win the Miss America title. In another racial breakthrough, 1985 became the year of the Latina beauties. Laura Martinez Herring, a naturalized Mexican-American, was named Miss USA, making her the first Hispanic to win a major U.S. pageant title. Deborah Carthy-Deu, Miss Puerto Rico, won the Miss Universe title that same year.

Kaye Lani Rafko, an oncology nurse from Michigan, won the 1988 Miss America title and voluntarily devoted part of her year of service to advocating hospice care and promoting the nursing profession. This new precedent of social activism for titleholders was so positively received by the public, that the pageant began developing an official "platform" through which future titleholders could be role models for public service. In 1992 The Miss Teen of America Pageant was founded. Macy Jarrett, of Kansas, won the first title.

After performing a ballet to music she could not hear and interviewing with Regis Philbin on live national television in 1994, Heather Whitestone became the first woman with a physical handicap to win the Miss America title. An inspiration to Americans, the profoundly deaf Miss America was the first national titleholder interviewed on a Barbara Walters' special. In response to perennial demands that the swimsuit competition be eliminated, the Miss America Pageant put the matter to a public vote in 1994. Viewers called in to vote on whether or not the Miss America swimsuit competition should be kept or eliminated. By a 3-1 margin, callers voted for the swimsuits to stay with 73% voting in favor of keeping the traditional category.

Business tycoon Donald Trump purchased the Miss Universe system which consists of the "triple crown"--the Miss Teen USA, Miss USA, and Miss Universe pageants in 1997.

In 1998 Virginia's Nicole Johnson, who is a diabetic who wears an insulin pump on her hip, became the first woman with a long term physical illness to win the Miss America title. She championed diabetes awareness as her platform and inspired millions of Americans.


Odd Pageant Happenings

Beauty Pageants have provided their share of scandals, disasters and other odd events over the years.

Only hours after Margaret Bergeron received her crown at the 1932 Miss America pageant it was stolen from the queen's hotel suite.

In 1937, again only a few hours after being crowned Miss America, Bette Cooper disappeared with her bachelor chaperone, Lou Off, in the middle of the night. The next morning when she was a no-show for a photo shoot, a statewide police search ensued and newspapers published photos of an empty throne surrounded by runners-up. Rumors about the disappearance included the supposition that, like King Edward, who had abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, the American beauty queen had abandoned her throne for love. Actually, Bette, who wanted to return to school, had called her chaperone and asked him to smuggle her out of her hotel and back home.

The newly-crowned Miss USA 1957, Leona Gage, resigned after her mother-in-law informed the press that 18-year-old Gage was not only married to an Air Force sergeant, but was also the mother of two small sons. Teary-eyed titleholder Gage explained that she entered the competition to earn prize money to supplement her family's military salary.

In 1968 Pageant chairman, Albert Marks, attempted to dump the Miss America coronation song There She Is, but after a public uproar, the decision was reversed. Fourteen years later, in 1982, There She Is was replaced by Look at Her and Miss America, You're Beautiful after a contract dispute between pageant officials and songwriter Bernie Wayne. There was so much public outrage over the change however, that There She Is was soon returned by popular demand.

Marjorie Wallace, the first American to be named Miss World (in 1973), was stripped of her title after rumors of affairs with a string of famous bachelors.

In 1974 Philippine First Lady, Imelda Marcos spared no expense to host the Miss Universe Pageant, only to have the event threatened by an approaching typhoon. Marcos called in the military to seed monsoon clouds in an effort to diffuse the storm. Amparo Munoz, Miss Spain, won the crown.

Moments after the credits rolled at the end of the 1979 Miss Universe Pageant in Australia, the stage collapsed as 200 reporters and contestants rushed forward to congratulate the winner, Maritza Sayalero, of Venezuela. Eight contestants plunged through the stage floor to the concrete beneath and Miss Malta and Miss Turkey were hospitalized for minor injuries after rescue workers pulled them from the debris.

Media frenzy erupted in 1984 after reporters revealed that Miss America, Vanessa Williams, posed for sexually explicit pictures before her victory. When Penthouse magazine published the photos, pageant officials requested that Vanessa step down. She resigned during a nationally televised press conference and was replaced by her first runner-up, Suzette Charles, who became the second African-American woman to hold the title.

The Lone Star state achieved a monopoly on the Miss USA title when Texans won the national crown for five consecutive years from 1985-1989. All five women prepared for the pageant under the tutelage of Richard Guy and Rex Holt, the flamboyant founders of GuyRex, Inc. The pair later joined the Miss USA organization as staff members.

After appearing as a celebrity guest at the Miss Black America Pageant in 1991, world heavy weight boxing champion Mike Tyson was arrested for raping a contestant, Desiree Washington, during pageant week. After the national winner and other contestants claim he groped them, the pageant’s director labeled the boxer a "serial buttocks fondler” and sued for damages. The case created a media frenzy and Tyson was later convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison.

As Hurricane Andrew threatened to hit the site of the Miss Teen USA Pageant, Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1992, producers decided to hold the contest early. To maintain suspense, they taped the crowning of two winners, Miss Iowa and Miss Oklahoma, and kept the name of the actual winner a secret. Later that night, the pre-taped pageant aired and Miss Iowa, Jamie Solinger, was revealed as the new Miss Teen USA.

Miss Colombia, Andrea Noceti, threatened to sue David Letterman, host of the famous late night talk show in 2001, for quipping that her talent performance would include swallowing bags of heroin. "I don't know if you've seen a beauty pageant lately, but you know what's really gotten very impressive; the talent competition...For example, Miss Colombia ... swallowed 50 balloons full of heroin." Letterman later apologized.

Due to security concerns, Miss Israel, Ilanit Levy, an 18-year-old soldier from Haifa, wore a bulletproof dress studded with rhinestones at the Miss Universe Pageant competition, in Puerto Rico in 2001.

Oksana Fyodorova, a police lieutenant from St. Petersburg, became the first Miss Russia to win the Miss Universe title when judges selected her as Miss Universe 2002. She was stripped of her title on September 23rd, 2002 for failing to fulfill her duties. Fedorova claimed that no one informed her of the demanding schedule she would face if she won the international title. Justine Pasek of Panama assumed her duties as Miss Universe.

At the 2002 Miss Universe Pageant, Miss Lebanon, Christina Sawaya, dropped out of the competition after stating that she would not compete in a pageant with Miss Israel. That contestant, Yamit Har-Noy hesitated to wear her Miss Israel titleholder sash in public due to security concerns.

At the beginning of 2005 Donald Trump offered to buy the Miss America pageant after ABC-TV decided to drop it from their broadcast channel. Pageant followers worried that combining the pageant with the Miss Universe pageants could result in less diversity among the contests.

We are coming close to 100 years of young women competing for the chance to wear a crown. Perhaps this is YOUR year to become part of this fabulous tradition!



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This is an excerpt from my "Insider Secrets To Winning The Beauty Pageant" course. Check it out!