8 November 2015
Unseen Vintage Snaps of Beauty Queens from the 1920 Era
Stunning photographs of beauty pageants, taken a century ago show that nothing has changed yet everything is different. Unseen Vintage pictures from the 1920s, 30s and 40s show smiling young women lined up in their bathing suits, standing side on with a jutted hip and one leg stuck forward - or even in the air. And, just as today, there can only be one winner. But while their poses and outfits are largely similar, there are glaring differences about today's pageants and those of yesteryear. Most notably, there are no African American women among the contestants. Indeed, African American women did not begin competing in the Miss America pageant until the 1970s; the first black winner, Vanessa Williams, was crowned in 1984. Another difference is the location - the majority of these black and white snaps were taken in Atlantic City, the home of the annual pageant. Click through to see the more interesting snaps of the bygone era right here…
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Atlantic city Beauties striking a pointed toe pose
Atlantic City’s Bathing Beauties of 1922 point their toes and nervously smile for the camera.
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Evelyn Lewis Miss Washington 1922
Evelyn Lewis, left, competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Washington in 1922. Three contestants on the right; including Miss Coney Island winners from 1924 and 1925, look so natural.
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Ruth Malcolmson Miss America 1924
Competing as Miss Philadelphia, Ruth Malcolmson (left) won the Golden Mermaid trophy in Atlantic City in 1924 to become Miss America. Alma Carroll, right, wearing an Army overseas cap, has answered the beauty draft call here, hoping to be crowned Miss America of National Defense in 1934.
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Pretty Picture Beauties of the 1920s
These pretty ladies participated in the annual beauty contest in Coney Island in 1923; the winner went on to the Atlantic City Miss America Pageant.
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Political pose of contestants in NRA tattoos
Beauty pageant contestants with NRA tattoos line up in Miami in the 1930s.
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Vintage beauties in Swimwear
Women and a little girl dressed in the latest in 1920s swimwear line up for a bathing beauty contest.
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Unique and Innovative photoshoots
Santa Monica beauty pageant winner Laura Hover, peers through the shapely legs of her fellow contenders. Seen on the right, beauty contestants protest in Venice, California, over Atlantic City’s monopoly on the beauty pageant business.
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Striking a pose in a hickory barrel
Contestants in the South Boston, Virginia beauty pageant at the National Tobacco Festival, stand naked in a large hickory barrel. In 1922 Mary Catherine Campbell (as Miss Columbus) won the Miss America title at Atlantic City, with Hudson Maxim as Neptune.
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