{"id":4058,"date":"2025-05-06T03:07:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T03:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/?p=4058"},"modified":"2025-05-07T22:52:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T22:52:40","slug":"the-very-first-miss-america-pageants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/discovering1920s\/blog\/2025\/05\/06\/the-very-first-miss-america-pageants\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Miss America Pageant(s)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Atlantic City & 1920s Tourism<\/h5>\n\n\n
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Atlantic City Boardwalk in 1921, Easter Vacation.<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Atlantic City, one of New Jersey\u2019s most famous coastal vacation spots, was established in 1854 when a track was created from Camden, NJ, crossing the Delaware River from Philadelphia to the shore. This resulted in a major increase in tourism. As tourism boomed, a town was built behind the beach and wooden hotels began to line up the area. This increase of tourism left many to see profitable business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atlantic City developed the reputation of being both a restful vacation destination and a lively spot for amusements. The city\u2019s signature rolling chairs started off as mere wheelchairs for visitors to use from hotel to hotel. It gradually evolved into a rental business as others joined in. By 1892, rolling chairs had become a popular trend, and by the 1920s, they were widely used. The city officially became a place where middle class people could pretend to be rich, with show business attractions becoming their popular source of entertainment.2<\/a><\/sup> Business leaders began to build luxurious spots for middle class tourists, and by the 1920s, the middle class had come to dominate the new consumer culture. This new middle class, typically men, sought personal satisfaction in leisure and consumption.3<\/a><\/sup> It was this very class that motivated local businessmen to create one of America\u2019s most famous pageants, the \u201cMiss America\u201d pageant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Very First Miss America Pageant in 1921<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The 1920s marked a decade when businessmen sought to rise into a more idealized position. Even small businessmen made an effort to present themselves as dedicated to civic life.4<\/a><\/sup> In fact, it was local small businessmen who created the pageant. The \u201cMiss America Pageant\u201d owes its existence to a man named Conrad Eckholm, owner of a hotel named the Monticello. He proposed to have the Atlantic City Business Men\u2019s League sponsor a week-long event that extended the Labor Day weekend. This proposal\u2019s goal was to benefit smaller side hotels that were not on the boardwalk, including his own. They donated around $5,916 towards this event and named it the \u201cFall Frolic of 1920.\u201d.5<\/a><\/sup> It would not yet feature the beauty pageant until the following year. Instead, they hosted an hour-long \u201cRolling Chair Parade\u201d. After the 1920 event, an Atlantic City newspaperman, Harry Finely, suggested a beauty contest to be added to the next Fall Frolic. When gathered in a meeting with the city\u2019s managers, he proposed that newspapers throughout many cities should run the contest. This contest would choose the \u201cmost popular young woman\u201d in their respective city. To create a more \u201cappropriate\u201d way to host a beauty contest for the middle class, newspapers helped by having people send in photos of contestants instead of letting contestants sign up themselves. Liking the idea, the President of the Chamber Commerce, Sam P. Leeds, presented Finley\u2019s proposal to the Hotelsman Association. They agreed to have these women compete against other Inter-City contestants at the Frolic. Many East Coast newspapers ran this popularity contest, calling it the \u201cInter-City Beauties\u201d contest. Cities like Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Jersey City, and Newark held summer events where women were judged on their beauty and impression. The winners from each city would then win a free trip to Atlantic City to attend the Fall Frolic. On July 24, 1921, The Washington Post<\/em> announced the winners of their contest, with the first prize winner being sixteen year old Margaret Gorman.6<\/a><\/sup> On September 2, 1921, the Camden Daily Courier<\/em> announced Kathryne Gearson as the winner to represent South Jersey. She would later be given the title \u201cMiss Camden\u201d for the pageant.7<\/a><\/sup> Other cities <\/strong>chose their own winners. The women to be sent to Atlantic City were Miss Philadelphia, Nellie Orr, Miss Ocean City, Hazel Harris, Miss Pittsburgh, Thelma Matthews, and Miss Harrisburg, Emma Pharo.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Margaret Gorman on the stage as Lady Liberty, earning the title of \u201cMost Beautiful Bathing Girl in America.<\/strong>\u201d8<\/a><\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The official pageant began on September 7th, 1921. Hudson Maxim, popularly known as the inventor of smokeless powder, played a character named \u201cKing Neptune\u201d. He arrived with a group of \u201cmermaids\u201d, the Inter-City contest winners. They all arrived at the Million Dollar Pier for the opening ceremony. King Neptune and the Inter-City women paraded on a seashell float on the boardwalk. The women later visited the Keith\u2019s Theatre, where a crowd and a panel of judges examined and questioned them. The audience\u2019s favorite was Washington D.C\u2019s, Margaret Gorman, earning her the first trophy. In the evening, Neptune and the women watched a performance by \u201cDawson\u2019s Dancing Dolls\u201d. The public watched the show with the contestants in full view. At the end of the first day, Neptune and the women attended a costumed ballroom event called \u201cThe Frolique\u201d. They sat on a throne display, watching the event take place.9<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day of the pageant featured the Bathers\u2019 Revue, a series of bathing suit contests. All participants and visitors were required to wear one-piece bathing suits. Around one thousand people showed up to watch the Rolling Chair Parade and beauty contests. The Bathers Revue beauty pageant had two sub-categories: \u201cAmateur\u201d and \u201cProfessional\u201d.10<\/a><\/sup> The professional category included professional actresses, dancers, models and swimmers. Across four contests, women competed for the titles of \u201cMost Beautiful\u201d and \u201cMost Beautiful Bathing Beauty.\u201d The overall winner would receive the ultimate prize, the \u201cGolden Mermaid Trophy\u201d, and be crowned the first \u201cMiss America\u201d. Miss Washington, Margaret Gorman, won both the Inter-City Beauty Amateur title and first place in the Inter-City Bather\u2019s Revue, while Miss Philadelphia, Nellie Orr, came in second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of Finalists: <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Gorman, Saunders, and Salisbury competed against each other for the ultimate title of \u201cMost Beautiful Bathing Girl in America.\u201d A panel of judges and the audience chose the winner. Since the audience favored Gorman the most, she won the \u201cGolden Mermaid Trophy,\u201d earning her title as the very first \u201cMiss America.\u201d. After her victory, reporters and photographers surrounded her as she attended parties held in her honor. The pageant became a huge success, motivating its organizers to host it again the following years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1920s Pageants, Controversies, & the Women’s-Religious Protests<\/h5>\n\n\n
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The Miss America Parade<\/strong>11<\/a><\/sup> (Left) & Miss America 1927, Lois Delander<\/strong>12<\/a><\/sup> (Right)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The pageant was so successful that the number of days, activities, attendees, and contestants increased each year. The number of contestants grew from just eight to eighty-three by 1924.13<\/a><\/sup> In addition, new rules were added. In the early years, a winning Miss America could reenter the pageant in order to fight for her right to maintain her status. However, after Ruth Malcomson, Miss America 1924, criticized the fairness of allowing professional women to compete, new rules were introduced prohibiting any past winner from reentering. Another rule added was that married women could not become contestants in the pageant. The pageant never explicitly enforced this rule, assuming that this was something the public knew to follow. However, after the discovery of a married contestant, the rule was explicitly put in place. Another change was the audience\u2019s power. Gorman won her place as Miss America with the overwhelming support of the audience. This changed in 1922 when the audience\u2019s votes were eliminated. This granted judges the sole decision of crowning the winner. In addition, a new category, the \u201cevening gown\u201d competition, was introduced to the pageant. By 1923, the pageant gained national recognition, and newspapers all over the country covered its events. Not only did the pageant become more popular, its winners did as well. Mary Campbell, Miss America 1922 and 23, received offers to be in films, musicals, and vaudeville shows. However, she refused these offers to return to school. Miss America 1925, Fay Lanphier, was the first to be in a Hollywood movie and profit from her own tour. This demonstrates that as the pageant grew in popularity, it became more commercialized. It was so commercialized that by 1925, contestants were asked to sign an agreement to appear in a Hollywood film if they won. Contestants also began to promote products on their floats. Pageant promoters, however, did not look favorably upon this. Even so, the 1926 Miss America, Norma Smallwood, made around $100,000 in product endorsements. She would go on to earn a salary that surpassed that of President Coolidge himself.<\/p>\n\n\n

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New York Times, 1924 (Top Left), & The Washington Post, 1927 (Bottom Left & Right)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Although the pageant gained massive popularity, it also sparked controversy amongst religious and women\u2019s groups. In the 1920s, Americans struggled to adjust to modern life while also trying to keep their traditional beliefs and values. Religion was losing its influence on Americans, and Protestantism was no longer a dominant force shaping cultural norms.14<\/a><\/sup> Religious leaders began to view the popular culture of the 1920s, shaped by materialism and the pursuit of wealth, as a decline in religious values. An example of the \u201cmoral decline\u201d that religious groups were concerned with was the display of the female body, especially through bathing suits. They viewed bathing suits and uncovered knees as immoral and improper. By protesting, clergymen contributed to the creation of beach rules that banned or regulated bathing suits.15<\/a><\/sup> Atlantic City was not an exception. The first year the pageant took place, there were restrictions on bare knees and skin-tight bathing suits. However, the competitions were temporarily exempt from these restrictions. This contributed to the protests against the pageant. In September of 1923, The Ocean City Camp Meeting Association held an annual reunion. A group of people, including a preacher, created a resolution condemning the bathers\u2019 review of the pageant. The resolution stated \u201cThe danger lies in taking girls of tender years and robbing them in attire that transgresses the limit of morality\u201d.16<\/a><\/sup> Besides religious motivations, feminism also played a role. While many might assume that feminism would oppose restrictions on women\u2019s choices of clothes, a more traditional form of feminism supported these restrictions. Feminists argued that the pageant reduced women to their physical appearance, encouraged rivalry, and exploited them for profit. On April 18, 1924, the New York Times<\/em> reported that the Y.W.C.A created a resolution that condemned the pageant. They claimed it corrupted women of \u201cpure womanhood\u201d by encouraging vanity and envy.17<\/a><\/sup> In October of 1924, the Pennsylvania Federation of Women\u2019s Clubs presented a statement that denounced beauty pageants. They encouraged women\u2019s educational and religious groups to do the same. The year of 1927 experienced greater opposition. On September 29, 1927, the National Council of Catholic Women presented a statement that stated the pageant \u201cexploited the feminine beauty of young women for financial gain\u201d.18<\/a><\/sup> They accused parents of entering their daughters for money and urged other Catholics to oppose these pageants. In November of 1927, the Atlantic County Federation of Church Women protested the pageant and the commercialization of the boardwalk. They called it an immoral influence on women and a barrier to the public\u2019s free use of the area. The pageant organizers tried to ignore these protests, however, they decided to temporarily discontinue the pageant in fear it could damage Atlantic City\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss America & The Flapper<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cNew Woman\u201d of the 1920s symbolized the “modern woman” who entered positions that challenged traditional female roles. They entered the public sphere and exhibited changing sexual attitudes. Similar to the push-back from religious groups against a modern secular society, the modern “New Woman” also faced resistance. In addition to religious controversy, the \u201cMiss America\u201d pageant faced criticism for the commercialization that some of the women became involved in. In its later years, it opened opportunities for women to earn their own money in product endorsements, tours, and even Hollywood films. This being a part of the symbol of the \u201cNew Woman\u201d, it led to controversy. Even in its beginnings in 1921, it faced similar criticisms. In August 13, 1921, The New York Times <\/em>reported that an Oklahoma Congressman sought a beauty pageant ban, stating that \u201cModern women were thinking more of their looks than of their home\u201d.19<\/a><\/sup> Despite this, the Miss America pageant had actually served as a form of resistance to the “New Woman,” particularly the image of \u201cThe Flapper\u201d. Flappers were young, single women who defied Victorian constraints by rejecting corsets, wearing bobbed hair, dressing in shorter, less shaped skirts, applying darker makeup, and smoking. To combat this image, pageant promoters were interested in promoting girls who resembled a more traditional \u201cVictorian-like\u201d kind of womanhood. These women were subservient, and demonstrated capability of being a good wife, homemaker, and mother. Contestants were expected to show no interest in pursuing public careers, instead valuing marriage. Pageant judges and audiences favored contestants who acted and dressed in a way that differed from flappers. Contestants were often accompanied by their mothers and acted surprised in their success in order to maintain an “innocent” image. Additionally, contestants with unbobbed, conservatively styled hair and no dark makeup were praised.20<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n

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New Britain Herald, 1925 (Left), The New York Times, 1926 (Center), & The Washington Post, 1927 (Right)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite the festive atmosphere of Atlantic City, contestants were portrayed as church-attending women who abstained from gambling, smoking, and drinking alcohol. Promoters were eager to present the pageant as “above” these vices. These portrayals were essential to the image of “Miss America”, representing the ideal of what they believed the American woman in the 1920s should look like. \u201cMiss America\u201d winners of the 1920s, who possessed these characteristics, were often reported in newspapers. First Miss America, Margaret Gorman, was praised for \u201cpossessing the basic virtues of American womanhood\u201d.21<\/a><\/sup> Similarly, the 1922-23 winner, Mary Campbell, was admired for her \u201cinnocent, wholesome, and traditional\u201d demeanor. The 1924 winner, Ruth Malcomson, stood out for rarely wearing makeup and never having visited a hairdresser. The 1927 winner, Lois Delander, was recognized for her knowledge of Bible verses, along with her refusal to use makeup or tobacco. The Washington Post<\/em> reported that she was an \u201cUnbobbed high school student.\u201d. The New Britain Herald<\/em> reported that the 1925 winner, Fay Lanphier, had \u201cblonde unbobbed hair and did not engage in smoking cigarettes,\u201d. The New York Times<\/em> reported that the 1926 winner, Norma Smallwood, was a \u201cWestern girl whose hair was unbobbed.\u201d.22<\/a><\/sup> Overall, pageant promoters wished for these women to represent traditional, Victorian-like ideals of femininity, hoping they would serve as models for other women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss America & The Suffragette<\/h5>\n\n\n
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Woman dressed up as “Liberty” at the 1913 Suffrage Pageant<\/strong>23<\/a><\/sup> (Left), & a side-by-side comparison of Suffrage & Miss America sashes<\/strong>24<\/a><\/sup> (Right) <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While the \u201cMiss America\u201d pageant openly defied the image of the “modern” flapper, it also subtly defied another kind of “New Woman” of the 1920s, the woman in politics. The concept of a \u201cpageant\u201d has ties to women\u2019s groups of the 19th century, including reform groups, church groups, and schoolteachers. These groups practiced \u201cpageantry\u201d as a form of public entertainment to promote their movements and goals. As early as 1848, the first Women’s Rights convention in Seneca Falls featured elements of pageantry to showcase women\u2019s unity within the movement.25<\/a><\/sup> One of the primary goals of Women\u2019s Rights advocates was the right to vote, known as suffrage. These \u201csuffragettes\u201d were inspired during their travels to England by the pageants hosted by British suffragists. The National American Woman’s Suffrage Association began hosting their own pageants in 1908 with the largest being held in 1913. The National Woman Suffrage Parade & Pageant in Washington D.C. was hosted the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. The pageant celebrated women\u2019s contributions to democracy and society by dressing up as figures that represented \u201cLady Columbia\u201d, \u201cLiberty\u201d, \u201cJustice\u201d, and \u201cPeace\u201d.26<\/a><\/sup> These suffragettes sought to raise awareness of their goals, celebrate their unity, and demonstrate their belief in women\u2019s moral value to the vote. Many of these suffragettes would remain politically active in the 1920s, contributing to the presence of women in politics and reforms. They continued the practice of political pageantry through the “Equal Rights” pageants hosted by the Woman\u2019s Party. <\/strong>The Miss America pageant incorporated elements that resembled these suffrage pageants. Not only was it also labeled a \u201cpageant\u201d, the Miss America pageant followed the suffrage tradition of holding parades. Contestants even wore sashes with the names of their states or cities, closely resembling those worn by suffragettes.27<\/a><\/sup> However, instead of promoting social progress and intellectualism, the \u201cMiss America\u201d pageant was based on beauty as defined by the male and public population. Rather than women’s unity under a shared movement, it encouraged competition. Lastly, instead of raising funds for a cause, it focused on commercialization and entertainment. The pageant acted as a reaction to, or alternative version of, the more political pageants, instead promoting a “less threatening” subservient image of women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n