Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine

According to the archives of the American Turpentine Farmers Association, the first 'Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine' was crowned in 1940 at the ATFA annual convention.

New Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine continued to be crowned for over half a century. I'm not sure exactly when the contest ended (I'm assuming it has because I can't find any info about recent winners), but it continued at least into the 1990s.

The Georgia Museum of Agriculture reports that it has a traveling exhibit of portraits of the Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine winners dating from 1946 to 1961. They have a brief slideshow on their Facebook page with some of these pictures (they're the color ones below). And I've added photos of a few other winners.

"Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine Winners," Undated
source: American Turpentine Farmers Association



Miss Gum Spirits of 1946
The Columbia Record - Apr 20, 1946



Miss Gum Spirits of 1951
image source: Walter J. Brown Media Archives Blog



Miss Gum Spirits of 1956



Miss Gum Spirits of 1959



Miss Gum Spirits of 1961



Miss Gum Spirits of 1967
The Tampa Tribune - Apr 21, 1967



Miss Gum Spirits of 1976
Tallahassee Democrat - Sep 15, 1976

     Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 14, 2021
     Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests





Comments
The ladies are having barrels of fun.
Posted by eddi on 09/14/21 at 10:32 PM
They're doing it to stave off hunger.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 09/16/21 at 12:42 PM
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