Beauty contests have been around for a long time, and looking back at them now can feel like opening a time capsule. The hairstyles, dresses, judging, and stage presentations all reflect the era they came from. What was considered glamorous or fashionable at one point in history could look completely different just a few decades later.
Beyond the crowns and posed portraits, something is fascinating about seeing what these events actually looked like when they were happening. Each image preserves a small piece of the culture that surrounded beauty contests and the people who took part in them. Let’s take a look at 20 vintage photos of beauty contests from the past.
1. The world’s most beautiful leg competition, 1951
2. The three finalists in the Slks National Bathing Beauty contest, Los Angeles, 1935
3. The contestants in the 1925 Bathing Beauty Pageant in Huntington Beach, California
4. This is what beauty pageants looked like in the late ’50s
5. A bathing beauty contest, 1929
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6. The Miss Hornsea contest, 1961
7. Miss Eva Fridell, being presented with the first-place trophy in the Washington Tidal Basin Beauty Contest, 1922
8. Getting ready for the beauty contest of Southport, 1967
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9. The first Miss Universe Pageant ever, 1952
10. Max Factor Jr. showing off the trophy to the Miss Universe Pageant entrants in 1957
11. Backstage at a beauty contest in North Carolina, 1961
12. Winners of the ‘Miss Beautiful Spine’ contest in Chicago, 1950s
13. Beauty contestants in Galveston, Texas, 1920s
14. One of the first beauty contests in the U.S., early 1900s
15. Miss Italy gets knocked onto the ropes by Miss Sweden, 1949
16. Contestants of the Doris Day lookalike contest, 1965
17. The winner of the posture contest, showing off her posture to all the other girls, 1943
18. The Most Beautiful Legs contest in Paris looks dangerous, 1936
19. The Atlantic City Beauty Contest of 1944
20. The Miss War Worker Beauty Contest, 1942
Want to see more content from the 1900s?
Check out 17 Vintage Photos of Fishermen That Perfectly Capture the Past (1900s-1970s), or take a look at 19 Colorized Photos Of Aviators (1900s). Finally, if you want to see Navy photos from the 1900s, check out 20 Vintage Navy Photos From The Past (1930s-1980s).
