Miss Subways

Many of us love beauty contest!  And the Miss America and Miss Universe are the most popular ones that we all know about. But in New York there was a beauty contest that was truly unique for that city in particular. The name of that beauty competition was "Miss Subways!" Isn't that swell!

To be eligible for the contest, a woman had to be a New York City resident and ride the subway herself. The winners were usually chosen by telephone-based voting, from among a group of contenders whose photos were all placed on the subways. The woman who was accorded the title "Miss Subways" appeared on posters placed on New York City Subway trains, along with a brief description of her.

This beauty contest which ran from 1941 to 1976 saw a reflection of the evolving role of the all time American girl. For instance from 1952 to 1962, the contest featured schoolteachers, stewardesses and suburban housewives. However for the next 10 years saw secretaries and airplane pilots.





For the past five years photographer Fiona Gardner has spent tracking down the women in the posters and traveled across the U.S. to photograph 41 Miss Subways.

Her book Meet Miss Subways: New York's Beauty Queens 1941-1976 is being featured as an exhibition at The New York City Transit Museum. The exhibition will be on until March 25th 2013.

For more information about the exhibition visit: The New York City Transit Museum.






Copyright © 2008-2012. Time Warp Wives. A Retrotimes Productions Website. All Rights Reserved. Research Information: Research: Euronews, Wikipedia, The New York Transit Museum, Barnes & Noble, and Fiona Gardner's website. Video from Youtube.