Photos of early and mid-century Miss America winners

Though there are no shortage of different opinions on the Miss America contest - and beauty pageants in general - and I know full well that not everyone out there is a diehard fan, I think it's relatively safe bet to say that what unites nearly all of those reading this post today is a general love of, and appreciate for the past, which includes looking at vintage photographs, even if they're of beauty pageant winners.

Started as a marketing ploy by the Businessmen's League of Atlantic City to lure visitors to the boardwalk after the Labour Day long weekend, the traditional end of the tourist season had wrapped up, and ultimately evolving into a hugely popular televised event decades later that is broadcast to many countries around the world, the Miss America contest has not been without its share of ups and downs (as well as contrary including anti-Semitism and racism - prior to 1950, for example, the contest was only open to Caucasian participants) over the years.





Ultimately though, it held on and flourished, giving rise to the dreams of many a young lady across America over the better part of the last nearly ninety years and becoming a cultural institution of sorts in the United States (and beyond). Often imitated (there are, for example, similar competitions such as Miss USA, which began in 1952), but never, save perhaps in more recent decades by Miss Universe, which is open to participants from around the globe, quite matched, Miss America is to beauty pageants as Barbie dolls are to the toy world: Glitzy, beautiful, heavily made up, and often met with criticism, yet few can deny its rightful place in 20th and 21st century culture.

In celebration of the fact that today is the 88th Miss America event, I thought it would be fun to take a peak at each of the earliest earliest winners, starting all the way back in 1921 with Margaret Gorman, the first ever winner of this now world famous event which was initially held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and spanning the mid-century years until 1960, when a Mississippi gal named Lynda Lee Mead took home the crown.

{Miss America 1921 ~ Margaret Gorman}

{Miss America 1922 and 1923 (intitially participants could compete for more than one year) ~ Mary Katherine Campbell}

{Miss America 1924 ~ Ruth Malcomson}

{Miss America 1925 ~ Fay Lanphier}

{Miss America 1926 ~ Norma Smallwood}

{Miss America 1927 ~ Lois Delander}

{Miss America 1933 (the contest was not held between 1928 and 1932; in addition, the 1933 winner retained the title throughout 1934 as, again, no pageant was held that year) ~ Marian Bergeron}

{Miss America 1935 ~ Henrietta Leaver}

{Miss America 1936 ~ Rose Coyle}

{Miss America 1937 ~ Bette Cooper}

{Miss America 1938 ~ Marilyn Meseke}

{Miss America 1939 ~ Patricia Donnelly}

{Miss America 1940 ~ Frances Marie Burke}

{Miss America 1941 ~ Rosemary LaPlanche}

{Miss America 1942 ~ Jo-Carroll Dennison}

{Miss America 1943 ~ Jean Bartel}

{Miss America 1944 ~ Venus Ramey}

{Miss America 1945 ~ Bess Myerson}

{Miss America 1946 ~ Marilyn Buferd}

{Miss America 1947 ~ Barbara Jo Walker}

{Miss America 1948 ~ BeBe Shopp}

{Miss America 1949 ~ Jacque Mercer}

{Miss America 1951 (due to changes with how the dates of a winner's reign occurred, there was no Miss America 1950) ~ Yolande Betbeze}

{Miss America 1952 ~ Colleen Kay Hutchins}

{Miss America 1953 ~ Neva Jane Langley}

{Miss America 1954 ~ Evelyn Margaret Ay}

{Miss America 1955 ~ Lee Meriwether}

{Miss America 1956 ~ Sharon Ritchie}

{Miss America 1957 ~ Marian McKnight}

{Miss America 1958 ~ Marilyn Van Derbur}

{Miss America 1959 ~ Mary Ann Mobley}

{Miss America 1960 ~ Lynda Lee Mead}

{Please click on a photo to be taken to its respective source.}

♥ ♥ ♥

Even if you're not keen on beauty pageants (I can see all sides of the coin there, believe me), it's hard not swoon over the stylish clothing, hairstyles, makeup looks and overall sense of glamour that these gorgeous yesteryear winners all shared in common and that alone is worth shining the spotlight on at least once a year.