Afraid she’d look like a horse

At the International Beauty Congress held in Los Angeles in August 1963, when Miss Luxembourg (Catherine Paulus) learned during rehearsals that she was expected to appear in a bathing suit during the contest, she started laughing hysterically and was reported to have said, "I will look like a horse. The people will all laugh at me. And then I will laugh. I can't do it... I can't do it."

The judges had to give her a tranquilizer to calm her down.

Somehow she was nevertheless talked into wearing a bathing suit the next day. And, of course, because of her outburst the picture of her wearing it then ran in papers nationwide.

She received a round of applause during her appearance, but didn't make it through to the finals. However, she was awarded the title of "Miss International Friendship" during the contest.

Detroit Free Press - Aug 16, 1963

image: historicimages.com
clipping: Corsicana Daily Sun - Aug 19, 1963

Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 08, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1960s

Miss Plump of Coney Island

The winner of the 1925 Miss Plump of Coney Island contest was Jolly Irene, which was the stage name of sideshow performer Amanda Siebert. According to Marc Hartzman's American Sideshow:


Siebert died in 1940, at the age of 65.

Baltimore Sun - Aug 26, 1925

Central New Jersey Home News - Nov 20, 1925

Louisville Courier-Journal - Dec 1, 1940

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 28, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Human Marvels, 1920s

Miss Broom Corn

Another entry in our ongoing series of obscure Miss titles.

St. Clair Chronicle - Jan 3, 1952

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 16, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1950s

Miss Fat Girl

Did the rules specify that the fat had to be au naturel?

Des Moines Tribune - Dec 26, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 03, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1960s

Miss Vacant Lot of the World

The Miss Vacant Lot of the World contest was started in 1972. It was part of the Annual Armadillo Exposition and Confab held in Victoria, Texas. The contest rules were as follows:

Valley Morning Star - May 26, 1975

Here's what I was able to find out about the first six winners of the Miss Vacant Lot title:

1972: Cindy Hudler won for her "dance of the Dasypodidae" which involved waltzing around a vacant lot in an armadillo suit.
1973: Modine Gunch won for standing on her head while spinning a hula-hoop on one leg.
1974: Algeria Sadberry won for playing a song through her nose.
1975: Elvira Rose Hunt (aka Karen Janecka) won for stuffing 264 pennies in her mouth.
1976: Linda Strelczyk won by stuffing 200 poptop tabs into her size 36EEE bikini bra while singing a song titled "Keep Your Finger Out Of It; It Don't Belong To You."
1977: A 200-pound woman (unnamed) won for dressing like an armadillo and singing an armadillo song.



Some of the prizes that the winners received included a trophy, a $25 check, a gift certificate, a bouquet of weeds, and a picture of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. They also got to wear the Armadillo Crown.

The contest was discontinued in 1979. The organizers noted, "you can only tell the same joke so many times." However, it seems that it was revived at various times, such as in the late 1980s and again in 2011.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 13, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1970s

Miss Food Freezer

Continuing our exploration of strange beauty contests, here's the Miss Food Freezer contest of 1951.

Arizona Republic - Mar 6, 1951

The favorite to win seemed to be Marianne Davis, who had already won the title of Miss General Electric. I could be wrong, but in the publicity photo below I think they've got her wrapped in freezer wrap while she sits on top of a deep freeze.

Arizona Republic - Mar 19, 1951

And sure enough, Marianne Davis won the coveted title of Miss Food Freezer. As far as I can tell, 1951 was the only year the contest was held. So she was the one and only Miss Food Freezer.

Arizona Republic - Mar 24, 1951

Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 23, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Appliances, 1950s

Shadowgraph measures beauty

It's interesting that they always have the contestants stand at a slight angle. You'd think it would be easier to have them stand facing the shadowgraph, in order to standardize the measurements.

Minneapolis Star - July 25, 1939

Chicago Tribune - July 24, 1939

Bristol Daily Courier - July 27, 1939

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 20, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1930s

Miss Most Titles

Actress and singer Janis Paige earned the reputation of having the longest list of 'misses' in show business. Her career as a Miss began at the age of 9 when she was awarded the title of Miss Olive Oyl in a Popeye contest. She went on to be named (among other things) Miss Valley Aviation, Miss National Buddy Poppy, Miss Damsite, Miss Front Paige (named by Boston newspaper editors), Miss Delicious Apples, Miss Best Table Decoration, Miss Atomic Energy, Miss Airmail Parcel Post, and Miss Hollywood Canteen.

According to wikipedia, she's currently 95 years old.

Miss Atomic Energy, 1948

Reno Gazette Journal - Apr 14, 1947

Des Moines Register - Jan 16, 1949

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 06, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1940s

More Potato Chip Queens

Inspired by Paul's post yesterday about the Potato Chip Queen contest, I did some research over at newspapers.com (subscription required) and came up with what I believe is a complete list of the Potato Chip Queens from 1946 to 1956, except for 1947 for which year I can't find any info. Perhaps there was no queen that year. After 1956 the contest seems to have transitioned into a Miss Teen Potato Chip contest. So, not quite the same.

Based on what I found, Nikki Geer was awarded the crown in 1946, but Paul found info indicating it was given to Dorothea Fagnano. Since Dorothea was only 15, I'm guessing she must have been given some kind of teen version of the crown.

Also, In 1952 the crown was given to a chipmunk ("Miss Potato Chip-munk").

Finally, the Potato Chip Queen for 1953, Joan Gehan (aka UN-KA-PU-CHI), was so popular that the next year they promoted her to "Miss Potato Chip of the Century."

1946: Nikki Geer
Shickshinny Mountain Echo - Nov 8, 1946

1948: Joan Smith
Opelousas Daily World - Feb 12, 1948

1949: Patricia Hunter
Zanesville Times Recorder - Jan 29, 1949

Edit: Found a picture of Pat Hunter's potato chip photoshoot in Life - Feb 28, 1949.

1950: Peggy Sharpe
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Mar 19, 1950

1951: Edie Pike
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Mar 4, 1951

1952: Miss Potato Chip-munk (with maid-in-waiting Ronda Sherwood)
Marengo Republican News - Feb 7, 1952

1953: Joan Gehan — promoted to "Miss Potato Chip of the Century" in 1954
Image via TOGACHIPGUY.com

Pittsburgh Press - Jan 28, 1954

1955: Ruth Burkhart
Kingsport Times-News - Mar 6, 1955

1956: Elaine Kuntz
Louisville Courier-Journal - Jan 29, 1956

Update: a better picture of the 1956 winner, Elaine Kuntz. (via Pinterest)

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 23, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Junk Food, 1940s, 1950s

Spreadsheet Championship

John Dumoulin of Virginia recently won an international competition on Microsoft Excel proficiency, which was part of the larger Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship held in Anaheim, CA. People come from all over the world to test their skills at Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. (Though it's restricted to ages 13-22).

Said Dumoulin: "Some of the foreign countries, they've been training for hours and hours and hours on end. When you first meet the international students, everyone's friendly, but when they find out you're competing against them in the same category, they get this fire in their eyes. They want to win."

More info: CTV News

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 10, 2017 - Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests