"Miss Subways" was a title accorded to individual New York City women between 1941 and 1976 (revived in 2017). In the early years, the woman named Miss Subways appeared on posters in New York City Subway trains, along with a brief description of her. In 1957, with 14,000 placards within trains, it was estimated that 5.9 million people viewed Miss Subways, daily. [1] Around 200 women held the title during the 1941-76 program run by the New York Subways Advertising Company. [2]
The method of selecting Miss Subways varied over time, typically taking the form of a beauty contest with the general rule that, to be eligible, a woman had to be a New York City resident who used the subway, herself. "John Robert Powers, the head of the modeling agency, selected the winners" until 1961 or 1962 and later "for some years, winners were chosen by the contest organizers." [3]
Before 1952, there were monthly selections of Miss Subways. From 1952 to 1957, candidates were picked every two months although "Mr. Powers once picked seven winners to reign side by side in the subway." [1] By 1957, they were all hand-picked based on how much they exuded a "girl next door" quality:
All Miss Subways have one thing in common. They look – or are supposed to look – like the girl next door. About 400 wholesome young things enter each of the three yearly contests. The winners are picked by John Robert Powers model agency millionaire. Mr. Powers says he wants "no glamour gal types or hand-painted masterpieces." Professional models, actresses and entertainers are taboo. Anyone else over 17 may enter. The Miss Subways have been secretaries, service women, nurses, sales girls, and receptionists. [1]
John Robert Powers was no longer involved in selection by 1963 when the contest changed to "public vote ... by post card." The first winner of the public vote was Ann Napolitano who was an executive secretary at the advertising agency Doyle, Dane & Bernbach. The New York Subways Advertising Company "redirected the contest to reflect the girl who works – what New York City is all about." [3] Winners were given bracelets with gold-plated (later, silver-plated) subway tokens." [4] Spaulding commented in 1971 that "Prettiness per se is passé. It's personality and interest pursuits that count" and described how "each contest attracts between 300 and 400 entries, submitted by family, friends and colleagues. About 30 are selected for a personal interview 'to judge personality and make certain that the submitted picture is a good likeness.' Most of the winners have been stenographers, clerks, receptionists and some have been teachers and stewardesses." [3]
Subsequent to the postcard system, winners were usually chosen by telephone-based voting, from among a group of nominees whose photos were placed on the subways. Title holders were photographed by the likes of James J. Kriegsmann who "specialized in pictures of stage and screen stars, but he also photographed ordinary people, including the women who appeared in the Miss Subways promotion for more than 30 years." [5]
In 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in conjunction with the New York Post , brought back the program, now named "Ms. Subways," for one year only. A voting contest was held to determine the winner, Caroline Sanchez-Bernat, an actress. [6] Posters of "Ms. Subways" appeared with subway safety tips instead of biographical notes.
Miss Subways began as a way for the John Robert Powers Agency "to promote his models and for the New York Subways Advertising Company 'to increase eye traffic' for the adjoining...advertisements." [4] "The contest provided the main plot device of Leonard Bernstein's 1944 musical On The Town , in which a smitten sailor on leave searched for 'Miss Turnstiles.'" [4]
By 1945, the four-year anniversary of the contest was commemorated nationally in Life Magazine . [7] "Unlike Miss America, these queens represented the full spectrum of their constituency, mainly Irish, Italian, Latina and Jewish. Thelma Potter, who was studying at Brooklyn College at the time, was the first black Miss Subways 1947 (36 years before a black Miss America); the first Asian Miss Subways reigned in 1949." [2] Potter stated, "It was progressive.... It stirred things up a bit." [4]
The New York Subway Advertising Company was owned by Walter O'Malley, who moved the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. [8] Bernard Spaulding, the sales director for the New York Subways Advertising Company, said in 1971 that Miss Subways "was a World War II pinup phenomenon and then lost social significance." [9] Miss Subways, however, was of "mythic significance to many," with Mayor Ed Koch saying in 1979:
Even now, I can sit in the subway, and look up at the ads, and close my eyes, and there's Miss Subways", he said. "She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world but she was ours. She was our own Miss America." [10]
In 1983, when there were public calls for the contest to continue, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority representative stated that it would be "irrelevant and socially unacceptable," and thus not viable, to restart Miss Subways. [4] Tn 2004, journalist Melanie Bush commented:
[The] posters were also covertly feminist, sometimes shockingly so, even to [Bush], a child of the 70s. From the first ('Mona Freeman, wants to be a top notch freelance illustrator') to the last ('Heidi Hafner ... Her goal: a flight instructor's rating'), they focused on women's ambitions, and in the 1940s or the 70s or [2000s], that's a rare rose to find clamped in the teeth of mass advertising. Yet there it was, and there it more or less firmly remained, probably because the contest was structured during World War II, when more than three million women were offered paying work for the first time, and were thus riding the subways, not to mention operating them, in much greater numbers than before.
The posters were at their most radical during the war years, and equally reflect women's later return to the home. Miss Subways' journey tracks a clear underground parallel to the prescribed roles of her sisters' above: While the civilian women of World War II may have been crucial to the work force, the purpose of housewives, as Betty Friedan puts it, 'is to buy more things for the house.'
From the exhilarating peak of December 1942's Marguerite McAuliffe, 'whose aim is to be a doctor as good as her dad,' and November 1943's Cecile Woodley, whose 'main interests are her job and the Navy ... enthusiastically O.K.'s skiing, Mozart and Katharine Hepburn,' we slide submissively toward Irene Scheidt, June 1950, whose 'fondest hope is a trip to Bermuda.' Then up we go again to Eleanor Nash, November 1960, 'young, beautiful, and expert with a rifle.' ... What I waited for each new month was: What did she do? What were her goals? The Miss Subways I wanted to be was the airplane pilot. Or how about 'travel writer'? 'Scientist'? 'Surgeon'? ... Maybe next month she'd plan to be an astronaut. Or president!
What was actually going on here, I saw, was women, real New York women, talking to each other about their intentions and transmitting these messages through the medium of some men's advertising campaign. [2]
Ellen Hart Sturm, owner of the New York diner Ellen's Stardust Diner, was Miss Subways in 1959; her diner features photos of many past Miss Subways on the walls.
In 2017, the "Miss Subways Pageant" was resurrected and produced by The City Reliquary in the backyard of the museum. To update the event for the twenty-first century, the competition was open to all genders, body types, and ages. A panel of local celebrity judges including NY1 reporter Roger Clark awarded the title, sash, and crown to performance artist Lisa Levy. Levy campaigned on a platform of being the first postmenopausal Miss Subways. [11] Miss Congeniality, an addition to the original pageant, was taken by Suzie Sims-Fletcher, a communications consultant. In 2018, The Riders Alliance joined the City Reliquary as a co-organizer of the event. The 2018 winner was Parker MacLure, a government employee who competed in drag. [12] [13] The event was hosted at Littlefield in Gowanus. Miss Subways returned to Littlefield for the 2019 event and the winner was Dylan Greenberg, a trans queer musician and director who fronts the band Theophobia. [14]
The event went on hiatus with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and was not presented in 2020, 2021, or 2022. In 2023, the City Reliquary revived the event at the Sideshows by the Seashore Theater of Coney Island USA, [15] [16] no longer in partnership with Riders Alliance. The event was emceed by Maggie McMuffin, 2023 Miss Coney Island. The winner of the 2023 Miss Subways crown was Harmony "Hardcore" Vehling, a marketing manager. [17] 2023 celebrity judges included Greg Young from The Bowery Boys podcast, New York Nico, Miss Subways 2017 Lisa Levy, New York City artist Reverend Jen Miller, and Maxine the Fluffy Corgi. [18]
| Year | Term | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 1 April – 30 April | Helen Bennett [19] |
| 1 May – 31 May | Mona Freeman [20] | |
| 1 June – 30 June | Barbara Davis [19] | |
| 1 July – 31 July | Dorothy Herman [21] | |
| 1 August – 31 August | – | |
| 1 September – 30 September | ||
| 1 October – 31 October | Helen Borgia [7] | |
| 1 November – 30 November | Muriel Schott [7] | |
| 1 December – 31 December | Ruth Ericsson [20] | |
| 1942 | – | Rita Ryan [22] |
| 1 January – 31 January | – | |
| 1 February – 28 February | Lucrezia Borgia | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Elaine Kusins [7] | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Stasia Mikrut [23] | |
| 1 May – 31 May | – | |
| 1 June – 30 June | Dorothea Mate-Michael [24] | |
| 1 July – 31 July | – | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Rosemary Gregory [7] | |
| 1 September – 30 September | Evelyn Clark [7] | |
| 1 October – 31 October | – | |
| 1 November – 30 November | Cecile Woodley | |
| 1 December – 31 December | Marguerite McAuliffe | |
| 1943 | 1 January – 31 January | Edna Thompson [25] |
| 1 February – 28 February | Connie Sameth | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Edith Fagan | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Rose-Ellen Cameron | |
| 1 May – 31 May | Vita Monterosso [26] | |
| 1 June – 30 June | Evelyn Friedman [7] | |
| 1 July – 31 July | – | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Tera Kathryn Davis [7] | |
| 1 September – 30 September | – | |
| 1 October – 31 October | ||
| 1 November – 30 November | ||
| 1 December – 31 December | ||
| 1944 | – | Helen Mazley Kenny [1] |
| 1 January – 31 January | Anne McConnell | |
| 1 February – 29 February | Joan Cashman | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Eileen Henry [7] | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Joan Vohs [1] | |
| 1 May – 31 May | Dawna Clawson | |
| Doris Clawson | ||
| Dorothy Clawson | ||
| 1 June – 30 June | Winifred McAleer [27] | |
| 1 July – 31 July | Peggy Healy [7] | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Mary Radchuck [7] | |
| 1 September – 30 September | Doris Day | |
| 1 October – 31 October | – | |
| 1 November – 30 November | ||
| 1 December – 31 December | ||
| 1945 | 1 January – 31 January | – |
| 1 February – 28 February | Jean Grogan [28] | |
| 1 March – 31 March | – | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Rita Cuddy [7] | |
| 1 May – 31 May | – | |
| 1 June – 30 June | ||
| 1 July – 31 July | Florence Luriea | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Marian Hartman | |
| 1 September – 30 September | – | |
| 1 October – 31 October | ||
| 1 November – 30 November | Donna Hansen [29] | |
| 1 December – 31 December | Peggy Molloy | |
| 1946 | 1 January – 31 January | Jeanne Clark [1] |
| 1 February – 28 February | Bette Taggart | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Marie Theresa Thomas | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Joanne van Cott | |
| 1 May – 31 May | Dania Cross | |
| 1 June – 30 June | Lanie Harper | |
| 1 July – 31 July | Enid Berkowitz [27] | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Aline Newland | |
| 1 September – 30 September | Patricia Burke [30] | |
| 1 October – 31 October | Mary Villacorta | |
| 1 November – 30 November | Kay Landing | |
| 1 December – 31 December | Shirley Levine | |
| 1947 | 1 January – 31 January | Iris Victor |
| 1 February – 28 February | Yola Monte | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Frances Smith | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Evelyn Burnley | |
| 1 May – 31 May | – | |
| 1 June – 30 June | ||
| 1 July – 31 July | Jeanne Gibson | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Joan Attinson | |
| 1 September – 30 September | June Wallace Thomson | |
| 1 October – 31 October | Merry Condon | |
| 1 November – 30 November | – | |
| 1 December – 31 December | Gene Farley | |
| 1948 | 1 January – 31 January | Lynne Lyons |
| 1 February – 29 February | Marie McNally | |
| 1 March – 31 March | – | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Thelma Porter [31] | |
| 1 May – 31 May | Joan M. Lyman | |
| 1 June – 30 June | Alice Smith Carlson | |
| 1 July – 31 July | Frances Gallic | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Dolores A. Beaver | |
| 1 September – 30 September | Rosemary Wilson | |
| 1 October 31 October | Marilyn Bell | |
| 1 November – 30 November | Janet Barker | |
| 1 December – 31 December | Mildred Florio | |
| 1949 | 1 January – 31 January | Janet Shanley |
| 1 February – 28 February | – | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Dorothy Nolan | |
| 1 April – 30 April | – | |
| 1 May – 31 May | ||
| 1 June – 30 June | ||
| 1 July – 31 July | ||
| 1 August – 31 August | ||
| 1 September – 30 September | Elaine Levine [32] | |
| 1 October – 31 October | Harriet Young | |
| 1 November – 30 November | Helen Lee [33] | |
| 1 December – 31 December | – | |
| 1950 | 1 January – 31 January | Mimi Ross |
| 1 February – 28 February | Saralee Singer [24] | |
| 1 March – 31 March | Angela Vorsteg [34] | |
| 1 April – 30 April | Margie Marra [35] | |
| 1 May – 31 May | Patti Freeman | |
| 1 June – 30 June | Irene Scheidt | |
| 1 July – 31 July | Anne Peregrim | |
| 1 August – 31 August | Janet Ferguson | |
| 1 September – 30 September | – | |
| 1 October – 31 October | Pat De Lieto | |
| 1 November – 30 November | – | |
| 1 December – 31 December | ||
| 1951 | 1 January – 31 January | Frances Carton [20] |
| 1 February – 28 February | Marjorie Miller | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Paula Ruszkai | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Perside Stefanini | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Jean Hagen | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Connie Kermath | |
| 1952 | 1 January – 29 February | Jane Campus |
| 1 March – 30 April | Peggy Byrne [27] | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Anne Landolt | |
| 1 July – 31 August | – | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Vanita Brown | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Luule Kula | |
| 1953 | 1 January – 28 February | – |
| 1 March – 30 April | Janet Magni Kulisan | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Mary Gardiner [27] | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Marie Graham | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Gwenn Clifford | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Kathleen McLean | |
| 1954 | 1 January – 28 February | – |
| 1 March – 30 April | ||
| 1 May – 30 June | Juliette Rose Lee | |
| 1 July – 31 August | – | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Eleanor Ward | |
| 1 November – 31 December | – | |
| 1955 | 1 January – 28 February | Phyllis Johnson [27] |
| 1 March – 30 April | Rita Rogers | |
| 1 May – 30 June | – | |
| 1 July – 31 August | ||
| 1 September – 31 October | Sue Rabinowitz | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Marie Leonard [1] | |
| 1956 | 1 January – 28 February | Loretta Bomba |
| 1 March – 30 April | Kathleen Walshe | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Lois Kean | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Nancy Seris [1] | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Eleanor Ward | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Doris Mermel | |
| 1957 | 1 January – 28 February | Marie Crittenden |
| 1 March – 30 April | Madeleine Seelig | |
| 1 May – 30 June | – | |
| 1 July – 31 August | ||
| 1 September – 31 October | ||
| 1 November – 31 December | ||
| 1958 | 1 January – 28 February | Nancy Denison |
| 1 March – 30 April | Eleanor Galanis | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Lynne Galvin | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Helen Steinacher | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Kathryn Keeler [6] | |
| Mary Keeler [6] | ||
| 1 November – 31 December | Josephine Milici | |
| 1959 | 1 January – 28 February | Adrienne Marie Cella |
| 1 March – 30 April | Ellen Hart [27] | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Sheila Stein | |
| Joyce Griffin | ||
| Sally Salve | ||
| Gail Burke | ||
| 1 July – 31 August | – | |
| 1 September – 31 October | ||
| 1 November – 31 December | ||
| 1960 | 1 January – 29 February | Deanne Goldman |
| 1 March – 30 April | Peggy Kelly | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Shirley Martin | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Barbara Butler | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Elizabeth Stern | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Eleanor Nash | |
| 1961 | 1 January – 28 February | Dolores Mitchell |
| 1 March – 30 April | Joan Raftery | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Judie Shaktman | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Kathy Pregenzer | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Vernell Dennis | |
| 1 November – 31 December | Stella Deere | |
| Before 1962 | – | Kathy Dempsey [36] |
| 1962 | 1 January – 28 February | Evelyn Tasch [36] |
| 1 March – 30 April | Dorothy Callaghan | |
| 1 May – 30 June | Sue Collins | |
| 1 July – 31 August | Barbara Sheehan | |
| 1 September – 31 October | Sally Pishney [27] | |
| 1 November – 31 December | – | |
| 1963 | 1 September – 30 September | Carole Nealon [27] |
| 1964 | 1 January – 31 March | Sanora Selsey |
| 1965 | – | Judith Marshall [3] |
| Rosalind Cinclini [37] | ||
| 1966 | Carol Price [3] | |
| Donna DeMarta [4] | ||
| 1967 | Barbara Preer | |
| 1 December – 31 January 1968 | Neddy Garde [24] | |
| 1968 | 1 February – 31 August | Maureen Walsh [24] |
| 1969 | – | Eileen Ryan [38] |
| 1971 | 1 January – 30 June | Patricia Shilling [3] |
| Linda Heilbronn [3] | ||
| 1973 | 1 November – 30 April 1974 | Carol Brown |
| 1974 | 1 May – 31 July | Sonia Dominguez [24] |
| 1 November – 30 April 1975 | Marcia Kilpatrick [39] | |
| 1975 | 1 May – 31 October | Ayana Lawson [24] |
| 1 November – 30 April 1976 | Josephine Lazzaro [4] | |
| 1976 | 1 May – 31 October | Heide Hafner [4] |
| Before 1976 | Laurie Bill | |
| Judith Burgess | ||
| 2004 (honorary) | – | Caroline Sanchez-Bernat [6] |
| 2017 | Lisa Levy [14] | |
| 2018 | Parker MacLure [14] | |
| 2019 | Dylan Greenberg [14] | |
| 2023 | Harmony "Hardcore" Vehling |
A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes solely so, but most modern beauty pageants have since expanded to also judge contestants based on "inner beauty"—their individual traits and characteristics, including personality, intelligence, aptitude, moral character, and charity. Though typically perceived as a female-oriented competition, male beauty pageants also exist, as do child beauty pageants for youth.
Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization. Along with Miss World, Miss International, and Miss Earth, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: Private Interview (30%) – a 10-minute press conference-style interview with a panel of judges, On Stage Question (10%) – answering a judge's question onstage, Talent or HER Story (20%) – a performance talent or 90 second speech, Health and Fitness (20%) – demonstrated physical fitness onstage dressed in athletic wear, and Evening Gown (20%) – modeling evening-wear onstage.
Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, when the organization announced it was licensing operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, Miss USA for 2008 prior to her suspension in October 2022, thus returning the said pageants to the Miss Universe Organization. The pageants are now operated by Laylah Rose.
The Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station is a New York City Subway terminal in Coney Island, Brooklyn. It is the railroad-south terminus for the D, F, N, and Q trains at all times and for the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
Miss International is a Japan-based international major beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant in the world in terms of the number of national winners participating in the international contest.
The 18th Avenue station is a local station on BMT West End Line of the New York City Subway in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. It is served by the D train at all times. The station opened in 1916 as part of the BMT West End Line, which was upgraded into an elevated line as part of the Dual Contracts. Its platforms were extended to accommodate ten-car trains in the 1960s, and the station was renovated in 2012. The station is scheduled to become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 through the installation of elevators.
The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition.
Miss World 1995, the 45th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 18 November 1995 for the fourth straight year at the Sun City Entertainment Centre in Sun City, South Africa. The 1995 pageant attracted 84 delegates. The pageant was hosted by Richard Steinmetz, Jeff Trachta, and Bobbie Eakes and also involved supermodels Linda Evangelista and Beverly Peele and Bruce Forsyth who acted as presenters. Aside from Sun City; Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and the Comoros hosted some segments of the show. The winner was Jacqueline Aguilera of Venezuela. She was crowned by Miss World 1994, Aishwarya Rai of India.
Miss United States is a pageant held in the United States for unmarried women between the ages of 20 and 29. The pageant includes women selected to represent all 50 states, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.
Miss Earth 2001 was the first edition of the Miss Earth pageant, held at the University of the Philippines Theater in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on October 28, 2001.
Miss USA 1954 was the third Miss USA pageant, held at Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California on July 24, 1954.
New Zealand has contested 46 Miss World pageants since that pageant's inception in 1951. No New Zealander has won the Miss World title, although two have placed first runner-up.
Miss Pakistan World is a beauty pageant for women of Pakistani descent from around the world. The event used to be held in Toronto, Canada but has moved to Pakistan and is held annually in Lahore, Pakistan.
Miss Universe Malaysia is an annual national beauty pageant and an organization that selects Malaysia's representative to the annual Miss Universe contest. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify, a runner-up is sent.
Miss America 1922 was the second annual Miss America pageant, held at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey from September 7–9, 1922.
Miss America 1923, was the third Miss America pageant, held at the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Friday, September 7, 1923.
Miss International Queen is the world's biggest beauty pageant for transgender women. The pageant was conceived in 2004 and named the largest and most prestigious transgender pageant by CNN original American documentary television series This Is Life with Lisa Ling aired on 26 November 2017.
Miss Chinese Taipei, formerly known as Miss China, is a national beauty pageant in Taiwan since 1960. The first and second place titleholders have the opportunity to represent Taiwan at the third largest international beauty pageant, Miss International. The current 2023 titleholder of Miss Chinese Taipei is Oceana Ling-Kurie.
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