Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues
Miss America 1886 (Contest of 1936)
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 30, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Elderly and Seniors, 1930s, Nineteenth Century
Miss Sportsorama
I find newspaper references to this beauty title from 1955 to 1990. But I do not think they all refer to the same contest. The largest number of references relate to a trout-fishing contest in NY State.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 13, 2023 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Sports, Twentieth Century
The Queen of Love and Beauty at the Veiled Prophet’s Ball
The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball was a yearly civic celebration in St. Louis, Missouri, over which a mythical figure called the Veiled Prophet presided. The first events were in 1878. The parade and ball were organized and funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization, an all-male, secret society[3][4][5] founded in 1878 by prominent St. Louisans.
The organization chooses one member to be a Veiled Prophet who conducts meetings and oversees activities but not necessarily for one year, spokesman Allyn Glaub said in 1991. They were a highly select group culled from the area's business, civic and governmental leaders, "the people who run St. Louis and St. Louis County."
See the 1938 Veiled Prophet below.
The Wikipedia article on the ball itself here.
A list of all queens.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 08, 2023 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Disguises, Impersonations, Mimics and Forgeries, Parades and Festivals, Regionalism, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century
Model of the year
I'm sure some psychologist must have conducted a study to see how much pain people would suffer in order to avoid embarrassment. If not, the case of Marcy Kwapil, chosen as "1975 model of the year" in Racine, Wisconsin, would offer an example. Rather than risk the embarrassment of disrupting a parade to get off the burning hot hood of a car, she suffered through to the end, incurring third-degree burns.
Roanoke Times - Aug 19, 1975
Below is the only picture I could find of Marcy Kwapil. She's the second from the right.
Racine Journal Times - Oct 25, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 03, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Psychology, 1970s
Lifesavers
If I'm reading this correctly, she really likes a guy who's short and scrawny, but feels that she's not supposed to. Lifesavers will help her conform to social expectations and find a more conventional partner.
The Old Line Magazine (University of Maryland) - Dec 1937
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 19, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Advertising, 1930s
Oklahoma’s Square Dance Queen
Fifty-one ladies representing 51 towns competed. I wish I had a better picture of the winner.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 19, 2023 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Charities and Philanthropy, Regionalism, 1950s, Dance
Vintage Trophy Girl Photos
Hot rod/dragstrip racing has always featured beautiful women to hand out trophies or generally add allure to the scene. The folks at Jalopy Journal have assembled nearly 300 pages depicting same.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 16, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contest, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Women, Cars
Rubber Beauty Mask
"the best time to slip it on is when nobody is looking, as its beauty is of the kind that frightens the neighbor's children."
Popular Science Monthly - Feb 1922
source: Wellcome Collection
A reference to rubber beauty masks in verse, from the poet Berton Braley:
Owensboro Messenger - Aug 26, 1916
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 13, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Costumes and Masks, 1920s
America’s Most Beautiful Back Contest
I can't be sure if all these videos and photos refer to the same Galveston contest, but it's likely. Except of course for the specifically Florida one.Read about the event--which was briefly revived a decade ago--here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 30, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, Twentieth Century
Miss Paramount Week
This beauty prize is plenty weird on its own. Most beauty queen titles are not delimited by a timeframe. Of course, the winners of the most famous contests generally reign for a year. A week seems a short splurge. But this winner, actress/singer/model Sandy Warner, also notches up another claim to WU fame. She was the cover girl for many of Martin Denny's exotica albums. Read about her at the link.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 10, 2023 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Movies, Music, Space-age Bachelor Pad & Exotic, Television, 1950s, 1960s
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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 |