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Miss America 2019 will be crowned Sunday at a renovated ceremony, less the swimsuit competition.
Now in his 97e year, the contest is an American tradition for decades.
It started as a way to increase tourism in Atlantic City at the end of the summer.
In 1920, a modest "Fall Frolic" was planned for the weekend of Labor Day.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of the director of newspaper distribution in Philadelphia in 1921, publishers were looking for ways to increase the number of readers.
They had an idea of "photographic popularity contest" featuring young women. The finalists of each city will be chosen for their personality and their social graces at events organized throughout the city. Each winner, called "Inter-City Beauties", will receive an all expenses paid trip to Fall Frolic of Atlantic City.
The organizers of frolic have seen the popularity of these newspaper competitions and have created a beauty contest.
It was a success and in just two years it had gone from eight to 75 competitors.
In Syracuse, the Herald was the organizer of the Miss Syracuse Contest, which decided who would represent the city in Atlantic City.
In 1923, Miss Syracuse was Eileen Snyder and she made a strong impression at the third Miss America contest.
The paper covered his journey at every step, often describing events in a language that would make readers cringe today.
Miss New York does not agree with Miss America to end the swimsuit competition
More than 400 local women submitted photographs to the judges.
Eligibility was simple. A woman was to be a resident of the city for one year, at least 16 years old and single.
The panel of "experts" would quickly reduce the field to 25.
Among the judges were the Mayor of Siracusa, John Walrath, whom the Herald said: "The professor of fine arts of the University of Syracuse, George Hess, Olive Schiller," whose photographic studies are well known, the photographer Edwin Hyatt and John Burnes, director of Keith's Theater.
"The judges found the task far from easy.The beauty galaxy of the photographs was really disconcerting for the judges, while they were looking to choose the 25 most beautiful of them," he said. reported the Herald.
The 25 survivors had to show up at the Herald Beauty Garden, actually just the Herald Building, for their final judgment.
"The judges' decision was made after hours of careful deliberation and in-depth analysis of the different points of excellence of the figures and lineaments of the 25 members." The judges were stunned and dazzled by the pulchritude of everything. the beauty garden. "
After reducing the number of participants to 10, the finalists were questioned by the judges, "invited to appear before the judges several times before going to the swimsuits competitions offered by the judges". the YWCA.
Eileen Snyder of West Ostrander Avenue was elected winner on August 24th.
"Miss Syracuse, why can not I believe it," she said when she heard the news. "I do not know what to do or say."
She was 19 years old, graduated from McKinley School and worked for the New York Telephone Company.
She described herself as a typical "1923 girl". She enjoyed dancing and swimming and competing in athletics.
The Herald described her appearance as "gracious and voluptuous," "colorful, lively, full of life and personality."
His hair was cut, bronze and brown, heavy and shiny.
"It's a girl with that indefinable charm, in addition to beauty."
In addition to the trip to Atlantic City, Snyder would have received gifts from many Syracuse traders.
The Herald sent a reporter with Snyder on her shopping tour all day after winning and was at the train station when she departed for New Jersey on September 4th.
The reporter was not alone.
An enthusiastic crowd of sympathizers gathered around his train and "gave a series of shouts of joy" at the start.
The show took place on September 7th and readers of the Herald would have thought that Miss Syracuse had won everything.
"MISS SYRACUSE TRIUMPHANT AT BEAUTY PAGEANT" shouted the title A-1.
(Miss Columbus, Ohio, Mary Katherine Campbell, won the contest for the second year in a row.)
Journalist Mary Jane Kroll reported that Snyder was a big hit with the audience of Atlantic City:
"At every Miss Syracuse appearance, the applause was deafening, whistles and cheers were filling the house, she was like a queen and smiled at the thousands of people who paid her homage."
She had won fourth place in the "Rolling Chair Parade", appearing as Cleopatra, and was second in Miss Nashville in the evening dress competition.
(Kroll described it as: "a simple straight dress of that blue color that brings out the beauty of her eyes." She was wearing a silver tiara in her hair, her feet were strung into silver slippers Regally and dignified, she nodded and smiled to the audience who saluted her like a queen.)
The Herald took advantage of Snyder's triumph.
In an editorial, the newspaper proclaimed, "In the national women's beauty contest in Atlantic City, Syracuse has just won laurels that will make the rest of New York State jealous."
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This feature is part of CNY Nostalgia, a section of syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle: Email | 315-427-3958.
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