Beauty Pageants in the 1960's
Contestants for the Mrs. NC State pageant line up in their evening wear.
Through the Mrs. NC State pageant, State’s Mates was associating itself with a tradition of displayed femininity in twentieth century America. Beauty pageants had their origin in photographic beauty contests that were publicized in newspapers in the 1850’s, and bathing beauty contests in the 1880’s. However, the first true beauty pageant in the modern sense of the word was not held until 1921, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This event evolved over the course of the next two decades into the Miss America Pageant.
In 1954, the Miss America Pageant was telecast for the first time by ABC, turning the experience of the event into a national phenomenon. Localized beauty pageants spread to cities across the United States, and colleges combined aspects of the pageants with Homecoming Queen and May Day traditions to create collegiate pageantry. By the early 1960’s, beauty pageants were a fixture of the status quo in constructing feminine identity.
Betty Marcum, Mrs. NC State for 1965, was crowned by her husband. Husbands, if they were present at the pageant, were requested to crown the winner.
The Mrs. NC State pageant differed from most pageants in one key way, however: all the contestants had to be married. This stands in stark contrast to the national pageant scene, which, since the bathing beauty contests, had been restricted to unmarried women. By having a pageant for married women, State’s Mates constructed a different experience and a different identity for its audience and contestants. Rather than stress ideals of unmarried life, the Mrs. NC State contest reinforced a domestic housewife’s identity, through featuring talents geared toward the home, and even by having the winner for the year be crowned by her husband.
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