I apologize for the complete silence
here over the last couple weeks. Just
over two weeks ago I got sick and had been sleeping pretty much non-stop,
causing me to miss the post on the 23rd. Last week, I was still sick and was also
recovering from Thanksgiving, so last week I missed as well. I should’ve said something, but… Too late
now. Sorry.
I’ve been thinking of doing this
person for a while now. She came up when
I was looking at Pinterest for neat old photos of people that might work. I’d started research before I got sick, but
hadn’t finished. I’ve been finishing
this week and came across a quote of hers that she “never cared to be Miss
America. It wasn’t my idea. I am so bored by it all. I really want to forget the whole thing” (1). At that point I was running out of time for a
post for today. I stuck with her, but I
admit it feels a little weird since I picked Margaret Gorman precisely because
she was the first Miss America, and here I’m finding out she later didn’t like
it… So there’s information here about
her, but also about the first year or so that “Miss America” existed. Hopefully Margaret wouldn’t hate that so
much.
Margaret Gorman was born August 18,
1905. She was the second child in her
family; she had an older brother, and a younger brother and sister. Her father, Michael J. Gorman, was the
executive clerk to the Secretary of Agriculture (I’m not sure which one
though). Margaret’s family lived in
Georgetown, in Washington, D.C., near Montrose Park. She would continue to live in D.C. for her
whole life.
When Margaret was between her sophomore and junior years in high school at Western High School (now the Duke Ellington School of Arts),
her photo was entered into a popularity contest run by the Washington Herald. Margaret
had blue eyes and blonde ringlets; her looks were compared to those of the
actress Mary Pickford. Margaret was
chosen as one of the finalists for the Washington
Herald’s contest, and, with the other finalists, was toured around the city
before a winner was chosen.
Margaret was chosen as Miss
Washington, D.C., for 1921, “due to her athletic ability, past accomplishments,
and outgoing personality” (2). When she
was notified that she’d won, and would be competing in a contest in Atlantic
City, she was at a park playing marbles in the dirt.
In 1920 Atlantic City had been
trying to figure out how to keep tourists in the city after Labor Day, which
was the traditional end to the summer holidays.
What the city came up with was the Atlantic City Pageant. Miss Atlantic City, Ethel Charles, acted as
the hostess for the pageant, a tradition that would continue for years. Margaret was invited to the Second Annual
Atlantic City Pageant as Miss Washington, D.C., to compete over the September 7th
and 8th weekend.
The Pageant was kicked off by a
parade and the actual competition part of the weekend started “by the arrival
of King Neptune on a barge that landed at the Atlantic City Yacht Club” (3).
Margaret was going to be competing in the “Inner-City Beauty”
contest, competing against seven other finalists from cities in the
northeastern United States. The
contestants for Miss Inner-City Beauty were “judged in stylish afternoon attire
by the judges”, as well as by the public “who shared in fifty percent of the
final score” (4). The public crowded the
contestants, asked them questions and tried to get to know them. While this was definitely a beauty contest,
personality did play a part when talking with the public.
One of the other titles up for grabs was “The Most Beautiful
Bathing Girl in America”, so of course the contestants were in bathing
attire. Some of the contestants “violated
a local modesty ordinance by appearing barelegged on the beach” (5). Margaret, though, “wore dark, knee-high stockings
and a chiffon bathing costume with a tiered skirt that came almost to her knees”
(6).
For the announcement of a winner, the contestants were “escorted
and presented on the stage of the Keith Theatre on the Garden Pier” (7). There were multiple prizes being awarded in
the Inner-City Beauty contest. Miss
Washington, D.C., Margaret, won the amateur prize, the Watkins Trophy; Miss
South Jersey, Kathryn M. Gearon, came in second, winning one hundred dollars in
gold. There was also a professional
prize awarded to the silent film actress, Virginia Lee, who was Miss New York.
Miss Washington, D.C., also won The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in
America. With two titles under her belt,
Margaret went on to win the grand prize for the Atlantic City Pageant, The
Golden Mermaid Trophy. She also was
given a key to the city that she shared with King Neptune.
Upon winning, one of Margaret’s friends from school back in D.C. sent
her a telegram, telling her “Congratulations.
Don’t get stuck up” (8). Samuel
Gompers, the president of the American Federation of Labor, also commented on
her win, telling The New York Times “She
represents the type of womanhood America needs – strong, red-blooded, able to
shoulder the responsibilities of homemaking and motherhood. It is in her type that the hope of the
country rests” (9).
Since she had won the grand prize, Margaret was expected to defend
her title the next year. However, the Washington Herald had already named its
new Miss Washington, D.C., for 1922, so Margaret could no longer use that
title. The titles she had won in
Atlantic City (Miss Inner-City Beauty, Amateur and Most Beautiful Bathing Girl
in America) were long, clunky titles.
The Atlantic City committee wanted something easier to call Margaret,
and decided on Miss America.
This first Miss America title is funny. Because of all the confusion over who had
what title, and what those titles all were, causing confusion about what to
call Margaret, Margaret was crowned 1921’s Miss America at the end of her year,
in 1922. This made her not only the
first Miss America, but the only Miss America to receive her crown at the end
of her reign.
Margaret did compete in 1922, defending this new, but yearlong,
title. She was still popular with the
crowds, who still compromised half the vote.
However, Margaret didn’t successfully defend her title, losing her crown
to Miss Ohio, Mary Campbell. Mary
Campbell went on to successfully defend her title in 1923, making her the only
two time winner of Miss America.
As well as being the first, Margaret set other Miss America
records. She was just 5’1” and 108lbs,
making her the smallest Miss America winner.
(In 1949, Jacque Mercer, Miss Arizona, became the lightest Miss America
at just 106lbs, but was two and a half inches taller than Margaret.) Margaret is also the slimmest Miss America
with measurements of just 30-25-32 (of course this is helped by the fact that
Margaret was just sixteen when she won).
Over most of its run, the Miss
America contest has been heavily criticized as a beauty pageant and for having
women on parade. This is something that started
almost right at its creation. Throughout
the 1920s the contest was protested and so the early organizers “presented the
contestants as natural and unsophisticated, stressing their youth and
wholesomeness. Publicity stressed that
they did not wear make-up nor bob their hair” (10).
Margaret competed for a few more
years in the 1920s in Atlantic City, but never won anything again. In 1925 she married Victor Cahill, who worked
in real estate. They lived in D.C.
together until Victor’s death in 1957.
Margaret became something of a socialite over the years, and enjoyed
travelling throughout her life.
As the years went on, Margaret tried
to distance herself from Miss America and from having been a beauty queen. As the quote at the beginning says, Margaret “never
cared to be Miss America. It wasn’t my
idea. I am so bored by it all. I really want to forget the whole thing” (11). She also said “My husband hated it … I did
too” (12). In 1960, Margaret was
persuaded to attend that year’s competition, but “later called the organizers
cheap for not reimbursing her for $1,500 in expenses” (13).
Despite all that, Margaret did keep
her outfit from her winning year: a sea green chiffon and sequined costume.
Margaret Gorman Cahill died on
October 1, 1995 at age 90.
I admit, I don’t know how to feel
about Miss America. Part of me loves it
because it’s a competition and you can see all the gorgeous clothes they get to
wear and some of the talents the women have are neat. But part of me hates it because it is just a
beauty contest, ultimately, and it presents such a narrow idea of what beauty
is. I think the inception of the contest
is interesting though, that it was a popularity and beauty contest, first won
by a high schooler. That it was seen as
this all-American, “red-blooded” thing, like Samuel Gompers said.
I also find it really interesting because of when it was
created. The 20s are one of my favorite
periods to read about and study. The
rise of the beauty industry, the new ideals of femininity, the higher
waistlines, the rush forward into modernity after the Great War. It seems appropriate that Miss America was
born out of this decade.
1, 2, 11 -
Margaret Gorman
4, 7 - 1921:Margaret Gorman
5,
6, 12, 13 - Robert McG. Thomas Jr., “Margaret G. Cahill, 90, Is Dead; Was FirstMiss America, in 1921,” The New YorkTimes, October 5, 1995.
No comments:
Post a Comment