Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues
Miss Geico
Am I alone in this, or does Miss Geico appear to be one of the hideous sea-folk who live off the coast of Lovecraft's Innsmouth, and conspire to interbreed with humans, producing hybrid abominations?
Home page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 04, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Horror, Motor Vehicles, Fictional Monsters
Cavalcade of Jazz Beauty Pageant
There is very little historical information about the annual "Cavalcade of Jazz" festival held in Los Angeles at Wrigley Field. Surprising, in light of lots of appearances by big-name artists.But one thing is certain: they also held a beauty contest.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 05, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Music, 1940s, 1950s
The Hoffmann
Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 23, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Design and Designers, 1950s, Cars
Messy Girls Gift Book
With Xmas just around the bend, the search for presents intensifies. Who wouldn't like a book of photos of women covered in foodstuffs?
More pix here at eBay for as long as the auction is up.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 21, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Food, Hygiene, Misbehavior, Rebellion, Acting-out and General Naughtiness, Photography and Photographers, Fetishes, Women, Body Painting
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
Prettiest Waitress and Most Handsome Bellboy Contest
This item in our "Odd Beauty Contest Files" appears to represent a one-time-only competition, held as part of the famed 1939 World's Fair.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 25, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, 1930s
Beauty Mask
March 1940 — At the International Beauty Shop Owners' show in New York City, Ruth Scott modeled a mask to heat the face and tone up the skin. The scratchers on her fingers were brass thimbles to protect nail polish until it dried.
Newsweek - Mar 25, 1940
Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 09, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Costumes and Masks, 1940s
Miss Beverly Hills 1960
In our continuing annals of oddball beauty contests, this 1948 event must qualify as exceptional.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Aug 12, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Children, 1940s
Egg Massage
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 29, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Eggs, 1960s, Europe
The Maid of Cotton Pageant
Continuing our intermittent look at oddball beauty pageants.The Maid of Cotton pageant began in 1939. The annual pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The pageant was held in Memphis, Tennessee, in conjunction with the Carnival until the 1980s.
In mid-December every year the NCC released a list of contestants. Contestants were required to have been born in one of the cotton-producing states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia. They might have also been born in the cotton-producing counties of Alexander, Jefferson, Massac, Pulaski, Williamson or Madison, Illinois or in Clark or Nye counties of Nevada. There were usually twenty contestants each year.
Contestants were judged on personality, good manners, intelligence, and family background as well as beauty and an ability to model. A Top Ten were chosen and then a Top Five, and finally second and first runners up and a winner. Winners served as goodwill and fashion ambassadors of the cotton industry in a five-month, all-expense tour of American cities. In the mid-1950s the tour expanded globally. In the late 1950s a Little Miss Cotton pageant was begun but lasted only until 1963 before being discontinued. In the mid-1980s Dallas,Texas took over the pageant, in conjunction with the NCC and its overseas division, Cotton Council International. In 1986, to bolster interest and participation, the NCC eliminated the rule requiring contestants to be born in a cotton-producing state. The pageant was discontinued in 1993, one of the reasons being that Cotton Inc. stopped contributing scholarship money as well as waning public interest and changing marketing strategies.
More details here.
And also here.
The 1952 winner.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 21, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
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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 |