April 15, 1951 is considered the birthday international beauty contest "Miss World"... On this day, advertising agent Eric Morley from London had the idea to organize a competition, the final of which took place on July 29th. Few people know that Miss World was originally conceived as just a one-time publicity stunt, the purpose of which was to draw attention to a completely different event. Why was the competition actually held, and why was it accompanied by a scandal?
One of the most prestigious beauty contests in the world celebrates its 65th anniversary in 2016, and in 1951 no one could have imagined that the idea of a young advertising agent would last so long and turn into an annual event. Then Eric Morley was asked to come up with something unusual to advertise the dance hall "Mecca" during the British Festival in London. Then the advertiser had an idea to hold an international beauty contest under the auspices of the festival. The main goal was to attract the attention of foreign spectators to the network of dance pavilions "Mecca Dance Hall".
The competition not only attracted the attention of a huge audience, but also provoked a scandal. Its reasons will seem ridiculous to modern viewers: according to Eric Morley's idea, the girls paraded in swimsuits. Bikinis were just coming into fashion then and looked more than modest. But for 1951, it was a bold move, and the swimwear was deemed too revealing. A scandal erupted in society. Newspapers wrote that "even at the present time of falling morals, swimwear looked too defiant on the participants of the competition!"
The religious community was especially outraged. Since the competition was held as part of the bikini festival, the winner went to the coronation in a swimsuit. Because of this, the Pope himself condemned her for shamelessness.
Morley's PR move was very successful - the competition attracted a large audience. Therefore, it was decided to hold the festival next season as well. However, in the summer of 1952, a similar show, Miss Universe, started in America, so Eric Morley decided to postpone the Miss World contest to November, closer to the Christmas sales. The calculation was simple: on the eve of the holidays, stores are attacked by crowds of buyers, and manufacturers of goods do not skimp on advertising. For three weeks of the competition, the organizers managed to earn decent sums on advertising: all the dresses were branded, resorts, hotels, cars, food - all logos and brands were shown not by chance and not at all for free.
In 1953, Morley became the director of the Mecca Company and the organizer of the annual beauty pageant. In 1959, the BBC began broadcasting the competition, which made it possible to reach an even larger number of viewers. In England alone, the show was watched by 25 million people. Thanks to this competition, London gained fame as the capital of world beauty.
26 participants from Great Britain, Denmark, USA, Netherlands, France and Sweden competed for the title of the first beauty in the world. The first Miss World winner in 1951 was 22-year-old Swede Kerstin (Kiki) Hokansson. As a prize, she received a check for 1,000 pounds, a necklace and the opportunity to appear on the pages of the tabloids.
Throughout its history, the Miss World pageant has been repeatedly attacked, especially by feminists. The most harmless of all its names were "anachronism", "vulgarity", "humiliation". Nevertheless, the show was and remains one of the most spectacular and is still popular all over the world. The final of the competition is broadcast in more than 70 countries, with a total audience of 2 billion people. Although this event has long been considered boring and uninteresting in the UK, many viewers believe that the format of the beauty pageant is outdated.
And the first beauty contest in Europe was held back in 1929:
September 19, 1888 in the Belgian resort town of Spa took place the first ever international beauty contest... 350 participants claimed the title of the most beautiful girl in the world, 21 of whom reached the final. And the idea of beauty, and the principles of selection, and the rules of the competition in the 19th century differed significantly from modern standards.
In the summer of 1888, an advertisement appeared in the newspapers for a beauty contest to be held in September in the spa town of Spa in Belgium. All those wishing to claim the title of the most beautiful girl on the planet were offered to send by mail their photo with brief information about themselves. The editorial office of the newspaper received 350 applications - from Austria, America, Algeria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey, France and Sweden. Of these, the jury chose 21 girls - they had to personally continue their participation in the competition in the Spa. The participants were not allowed to appear in public - they were accommodated on a separate floor in the hotel, from where they went in closed carriages only to the salon of the casino where the competition was held. Before the awards were awarded, no one had the right to see the participants. All expenses for moving and living of the girls were covered by the casino.
The organizer of the competition was Hervé du Lorrain, 10,000 francs for the awarding of prizes to the winners were allocated by the casino. The most beautiful girl was chosen by a jury of eight men, among whom were artists, sculptors and other representatives of creative professions. The competition was held for 12 days. Every day, the girls paraded in front of the jury in the salon of the casino. At the same time, they were all dressed in long dresses, and the men who were present in the hall were in tailcoats.
On the 12th day, the winners of the competition were announced. 18-year-old Creole from Guadeloupe Marta Sukare was named the most beautiful girl on the planet, she was awarded the first prize in the amount of 5,000 francs. The second prize of 2,000 francs went to the Flemish Angela Delroza. The third place and 1,000 francs were given to a native of Vienna, Marie Stevens. After the awards ceremony, the casino hosted a large ball for the participants, jury, local authorities and members of the press.
Even the first beauty contest in history was not without curiosities and scandals. One of the participants impressed everyone with her beauty so much that the jury unanimously decided that she was out of competition. It was the Algerian girl Fatma. The resourceful entrepreneur demanded an admission fee from those who wanted to see her. And when the jury announced the winner of the competition, one of the participants, annoyed by such a result, approached the lucky woman and ... spat in her face!
The winners of the beauty contest received not only impressive monetary awards, but also worldwide popularity: Marta Sukare received more than a hundred marriage proposals within the first three days after the results were announced. But she rejected them, declaring her desire to pursue an acting career. Unfortunately, there is no information about her further fate.
The incredible success of the Belgian beauty pageant led to the fact that at the beginning of the twentieth century. similar events began to be held in other countries.
1st and 2nd Prize Winners Marta Sukare and Angela Delroza
On September 19, 1888, the first ever international beauty contest took place in the Belgian resort town of Spa. 350 participants claimed the title of the most beautiful girl in the world, 21 of whom reached the final. And the idea of beauty, and the principles of selection, and the rules of the competition in the 19th century differed significantly from modern standards.
Winner of magazine cover contest and caricature of the first world beauty contest. Signature under the picture: contestants; judges; blonde or brunette?
In the summer of 1888, an advertisement appeared in the newspapers for a beauty contest to be held in September in the spa town of Spa in Belgium. All those wishing to claim the title of the most beautiful girl on the planet were offered to send by mail their photo with brief information about themselves. The editorial office of the newspaper received 350 applications - from Austria, America, Algeria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey, France and Sweden. Of these, the jury chose 21 girls - they had to personally continue their participation in the competition in the Spa. The participants were not allowed to appear in public - they were accommodated on a separate floor in the hotel, from where they went in closed carriages only to the salon of the casino where the competition was held. Before the awards were awarded, no one had the right to see the participants. All expenses for moving and living of the girls were covered by the casino.
The organizer of the competition was Hervé du Lorrain, 10,000 francs for the awarding of prizes to the winners were allocated by the casino. The most beautiful girl was chosen by a jury of eight men, among whom were artists, sculptors and other representatives of creative professions. The competition was held for 12 days. Every day, the girls paraded in front of the jury in the salon of the casino. At the same time, they were all dressed in long dresses, and the men who were present in the hall were in tailcoats.
Winner of the first ever international beauty contest Marta Sukare
On the 12th day, the winners of the competition were announced. 18-year-old Creole from Guadeloupe Marta Sukare was named the most beautiful girl on the planet, she was awarded the first prize in the amount of 5,000 francs. The second prize of 2,000 francs went to the Flemish Angela Delroza. The third place and 1,000 francs were given to a native of Vienna, Marie Stevens. After the awards ceremony, the casino hosted a large ball for the participants, jury, local authorities and members of the press.
3rd and 4th Prize Winners Marie Stevens and Olga Nadiaska
Even the first beauty contest in history was not without curiosities and scandals. One of the participants impressed everyone with her beauty so much that the jury unanimously decided that she was out of competition. It was the Algerian girl Fatma. The resourceful entrepreneur demanded an admission fee from those who wanted to see her. And when the jury announced the winner of the competition, one of the participants, annoyed by such a result, approached the lucky woman and ... spat in her face!
The dress code of the first beauty pageant was significantly different from modern
The winners of the beauty contest received not only impressive monetary awards, but also worldwide popularity: Marta Sukare received more than a hundred marriage proposals within the first three days after the results were announced. But she rejected them, declaring her desire to pursue an acting career. Unfortunately, there is no information about her further fate.
The first Soviet beauty contest was the Moscow Beauty - 88 contest, and the tenth grader Masha Kalinina became the first “officially” recognized Russian beauty.
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As conceived by the organizers, the main task of the competition was to show that in our country in a Soviet woman they value not only dedication, determination and strength, but also beauty.
Among the six finalists of the competition was twenty-year-old Oksana Fandera (pictured on the left) - the future actress and wife of director Philip Yankovsky. Despite the sympathy of the jury members, Oksana's lack of a Moscow registration prevented Oksana from winning the competition - Fandera came from Odessa to conquer the capital. Nevertheless, the girl became one of the winners of the competition.
With another finalist of the competition, Irina Suvorova (pictured), an even greater incident came out - she was married and with a child. It was no longer possible to remove her from the competition - after all, she was one of the finalists, but it was impossible to give her the winner's crown. Initially, it was planned to call the contest "Miss Moscow", so the jury did not dare to give the victory to "Mrs."
A cruel joke with one of the finalists - Elena Durneva - was played by her last name. According to the memoirs of Marina Parusnikova, the organizer of the first beauty contest in the history of the USSR, the jury did not dare to proclaim Lena Durneva (pictured) the first Moscow beauty, largely because of the dissonant surname.
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Until the 20th century, the tribes of Australia and the Pacific Islands held contests: unmarried, outwardly attractive girls competed naked. The winner was married to “the first guy in the village”. In Uganda, beauty contests were held, and no one especially looked at the face. They chose the owner of the most beautiful priests. Some of the winners really had such significant advantages that they could not get up without help.
In Russia, for a long time, the tsar's wife was elected as a result of a competition, to which they were obliged to bring girls of all families from all over the state. At the same time, position and prosperity did not matter - only beauty and health.
The most prestigious international beauty contests of our time
Miss World (since 1951)
Miss Universe (since 1952)
Miss International (since 1960)
Miss Supranational (since 2009)
Miss Grand International (since 2013)
Miss Earth (since 2001)
Miss Intercontinental (since 1971)
Top Model of the World (since 1993)
Regional competitions
Miss Europe (from 1928 to 2006 and from 2016)
Miss Asia (1968 to 2005 and 2011)
The most beautiful Italian woman in the world (Miss Italia nel Mondo) (since 1991)
Spanish American Beauty Queen (since 1991)
Competitions for married ladies
Mrs World (since 1985)
Mrs Globe (since 1996)
Mrs Universe (since 2007)
Mrs Top International (since 2018)
The first ever beauty contest was held in Belgium on September 19, 1888. The final part was attended by 21 contenders for the title of "beauty queen", and the girls were selected for the final based on photographs sent to the jury.
According to a reporter from a Scandinavian newspaper covering the results of those unusual competitions, “The competition was extremely modest. The contestants had to remain unknown to the general public, so they lived in a separate house, access to which was closed to outsiders, and they were brought to the competition in a closed carriage. " All men who attended the competition were dressed in tailcoats, women in long dresses.
The winner was Bertha Sukare, an 18-year-old Creole from Guadeloupe, who received an award of 5,000 francs. The first world beauty contests were held in 1951 in London, where Miss Universe and Miss World were crowned. Thirty applicants, who appeared on the scene in bikini swimwear, while not yet known in England, made a splash.
In the USSR, the first beauty contest took place 100 years after the first contest, in 1988. The Komsomol organized the show "Miss Moscow-88", the sponsor was the concern "Burda", whose magazines were just beginning to enter the Russian market. Tens of thousands of Muscovites came to the qualifying round. The victory was won by 16-year-old Masha Kalinina. After this show, beauty contests in our country have become quite frequent and today it is a whole industry.
The first "beauty contest" is called the mythical contest between the three goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They chose Paris as a judge, who gave the main prize - an apple and the title of the Most Beautiful - to Aphrodite. There is evidence that the most beautiful girl, Ilion, was chosen in ancient Troy. The jury consisted of singers, sculptors, orators and warriors.
The oldest documented beauty contests were held in Corinth in the 5th century BC, where Kipelis ruled, who instituted a festival in honor of the goddess of the earth. The most worthy contender was named the bearer of gold. The Greeks liked the initiative, similar competitions were held in the city of Athens, and after that they were constantly and everywhere. The competitions on the island of Lesvos in the Aegean Sea were especially popular.
In Ancient Babylon, after a beauty contest, the winner was not only awarded the title of beautiful, she was assigned a price: the girl's name was shouted out, and the men were shouting out the price. It was for this money, assigned as a result of the competition, that it was possible to subsequently buy this girl from the family in order to marry her.
In ancient China, as well as among the Incas and Malays, special rules for choosing a beauty were created. Having chosen the winner, they sacrificed her in a solemn atmosphere to a bloody deity or spirit. Despite the harsh Islamic customs, they were entertained in the harems of the Ottoman Empire, choosing the most beautiful odalisque.
