Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests
Miss Garlic
"Miss Garlic will be chosen on the basis of personality, congeniality, talent, knowledge of garlic — and breath."
Greenville News - Feb 10, 1986
Southern Illinoisan - Feb 11, 1986
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 06, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1980s
Mr. and Miss Boll Weevil
This post is for KDP, who in response to Paul's post yesterday about the Maid of Cotton pageant, noted the apparent lack of a counterpart, Miss Boll Weevil.There is indeed a Miss Boll Weevil, as well as a Mr. Boll Weevil. These titles have periodically been conferred on students at Alabama's Enterprise State Community College, whose mascot is a boll weevil.
For instance, in 1972 Pat Hatcher and Bobby Bright were the students named Mr. and Miss Boll Weevil. Bright went on to serve as the U.S. Representative for Alabama's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2011. Bright was the first Democrat to represent the district since 1962, but he didn't win a second term.
The Montgomery Advertiser - Nov 15, 2000
The Montgomery Advertiser - Jan 23, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 22, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Contests, Races and Other Competitions
Hillevi Rombin and her Performing Dogs
Hillevi Rombin (1933-1996) was crowned Miss Universe in 1955. Her talents included gymnastics, track & field, skiing, and sausage snake charming. She demonstrated the latter with her "performing dogs" for National Kraut and Frankfurter Week.More info: wikipedia, cardcow.com
Rombin crowned Miss Universe
1955: with her performing dogs
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 05, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1950s
Edward Seese Memorial Scholarship
When millionaire real estate investor Edward Seese died in March 1995, he left instructions in his will to fund a $4.5 million scholarship at Broward Community College. The recipients of the scholarship, he instructed, were to be high school students who earned a C average. He felt that scholarships typically went to high academic achievers, so the C students had been "left out in the cold."The scholarship still seems to be available to those who qualify.
Tallahassee Democrat - June 21, 1995
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 28, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Education, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia, 1990s
Miss Bomarc Interceptor Missile
The missile is the supersonic Bomarc anti-aircraft missile developed by Boeing and the University of Michigan Aeronautical Research Center. The woman is 18-year-old Fran Frost. The year was 1958.
Fran Frost went on to be Miss Utah State Fair, Miss Dairy Queen, and Miss World Contact Lens, but then retired from modeling.
Read her full story at Conelrad Adjacent.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 10, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1950s, Weapons
Summer Redneck Games
Held annually in Dublin, Georgia since 1996. Events include redneck horseshoes (using toilet seats), the mud pit belly flop, armpit serenade, watermelon seed spitting, and bobbing for pig's feet. They also promise you'll see a lot of butt crack, camouflage, and four-wheel drives.More info: Summer Redneck Games, pinterest
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 19, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Games, Hillbillies, Country Bumpkins, Ruralism and Flyover Country
Roy L. Gray, the Most Average Man
In 1927, William S. Dutton, a writer for American magazine, decided to locate America's most average man. The requirements were that whoever it was had to be:To conduct his search, Dutton used the census report, a map, and a weather chart to select America's most average city, which he decided was Fort Madison, Iowa. Then he conducted a survey of Fort Madison's residents to determine who the most average man living there was.
He finally settled on Roy L. Gray, owner of a clothing store. Gray was 43 years old, married, and had two children.
Dutton knocked on Gray's door and informed him that he was the most average man in America. Gray seemed to take the news in stride. He agreed to an interview, and then was whisked off to Chicago where he was given the VIP treatment, which included getting to meet the mayor. Then he returned to his average life, and as far as I can tell never made the news again.
He should have tried to hook up with Miss Typical.
Rushville Daily Republican - Oct 26, 1927
The Lincoln Star - Oct 25, 1927
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 16, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Boredom, 1920s
Miss Mona Lisa 1958
February 1958: A jury of "celebrated painters" convened for the Mona Lisa Grand Prix awarded the title of "Mona Lisa 1958" to Luce Bona. What made the award slightly unusual is that Bona hadn't been a contestant. The judges just happened to see her as she was walking by outside and decided she was the one. At least, that was the story reported in the press.
Louisville Courier-Journal - Feb 19, 1958
Here's the winner from the previous year, Maria Lea. Apparently the gimmick of this contest was that the winner posed in a picture frame, which made her somehow like the Mona Lisa.
The Lincoln Star - Jan 13, 1957
Later in 1958 a jury of French mystery writers selected Luce Bona as the girl with the "Most Devilish Eyes." I'm assuming she was actually entered into that contest.
I can't find any references to Luce Bona after 1958. Perhaps she gave up modeling, despite such a promising start.
Wilmington News Journal - Apr 12, 1958
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 05, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Art, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1950s
Paid half to ex-wife
Robert Lucas and Rita Cohen met while both were undergraduates at the University of Chicago, and they got married in 1959. They had two sons together, but eventually things didn't work out. They separated in 1982 and divorced a few years later, citing "irreconcilable differences."But Rita evidently had faith in Robert's talent, because she instructed her lawyer to add a clause to the divorce settlement specifying that if Robert won the Nobel Prize by October 31, 1995, she would receive half the prize money.
Robert was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics on October 10, 1995 — 21 days before the clause would have expired.
Asked about having to pay half the prize to his ex-wife, he noted philosophically that, "A deal is a deal." But added, "Maybe if I'd known I'd win, I would have resisted the clause."
More info: LA Times (Oct 21, 1995)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Oct 21, 1995
Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 25, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Divorce
Shirley Dinsdale and Judy Splinters
Female ventriloquists are pretty rare. So it's always weird to find a forgotten one, especially one who might be remembered for garnering the first Emmy award ever given. Shirley Dinsdale might have been talented, but Judy Splinters was surely ugly as all get-out.
This 1945 radio show (not embeddable) features her act in its prime, starting after the 3-minute mark.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 22, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Entertainment, Puppets and Automatons, 1940s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |