The First Miss America

The first Miss America

Today, Atlantic City, New Jersey, is the second American gambling capital after Las Vegas. In the early 1920s, the citys image was slightly different: it was the most luxurious beach resort in the United States: expensive hotels and summer cottages of the wealthy from Philadelphia, restaurants, cinemas, underground bars and gambling houses selling alcohol, which had been banned since January 1920... Even then, the main street of the city was a wooden promenade - an 11 km long promenade with wooden flooring. The city had more than 400 hotels and 21 theaters, 5 berths on the promenade were turned into amusement parks, the summer railway schedule included 99 trains per day, and there were also three airports.
The city was bustling all summer, but in the first days of autumn it was quickly empty. The owners of hotels and entertainment venues, of course, really wanted to extend the season at least a little bit.

In 1921, Atlantic City businessmen decided to hold a beauty pageant with the participation of winners of newspaper competitions from different cities and states. Applications were accepted all summer and 10 participants arrived in the city in early September. Newspapers paid participants for travel, and hotel owners provided free suites with ocean views from September 6 to 9. The contest took place for two days — September 7 and 8. For several days, special trains brought thousands of spectators to the resort to watch the Revue in swimsuits and the Parade in wheelchairs, as well as the “Neptune Pranks” contest, which awarded prizes for the most interesting costumes in various categories, fireworks, a naval spotlight show and a dance contest.

The most beautiful girl in the United States was 16-year-old Margaret Gorman from Washington - she won the Inter-State beauty pageant, won a swimwear revue and won the audience vote for the grand prize, the $5,000 Golden Mermaid. The Washington Herald, which sponsored Ms. Gormans trip to the contest, shared details with readers:

“Margaret, who came down from the stage, was first congratulated by her mother, then the girl was surrounded by a crowd of spectators, and she was able to get out of this environment only thanks to the police. From the Haddon Hall Hotel, Gorman called her father to give him the good news. The winners father is an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture, who has already worked there under four presidents. After Ms. Gorman won, the hotel management invited her to stay for the weekend. Its free, of course.
On the last day of her stay in Atlantic City, the winner of the contest, along with her father, who was here for the weekend, flew over the city on a Curtiss plane and swam in the ocean - on the beach, the head of the rescue team protected her from hundreds of people who wanted to meet. In the evening, Margaret Gorman and her family took the train to Washington. Edward Bader, Mayor of Atlantic City, and members of the contest organizing committee accompanied her at the train station.
President Warren Harding received her in Washington on September 11. He gave Margaret a flower and said that the best pictures of the girl published in the Washington Herald couldnt capture her charm.”

After the success of 1921, 58 contestants from 57 cities arrived in Atlantic City in 1922, including last years winner Margaret Gorman. The organizers decided that her titles — “Long-distance Beauty” and “The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl” — did not sound very pretty and in hindsight she was awarded the title that was invented back in 1921 by Herb Test, a journalist from Atlantic City, “Miss America”.

Pictured is the first Miss America by Margaret Gorman wearing the Statue of Liberty crown and striped cape, Atlantic City, September 1921.

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