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Miss Subways

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An advertisement for Miss Subways at the New York Transit Museum.

"Miss Subways" was a title accorded to individual New York City women between 1941 and 1976 (revived in 2017). In the early years, the woman named Miss Subways appeared on posters in New York City Subway trains, along with a brief description of her. In 1957, with 14,000 placards within trains, it was estimated that 5.9 million people viewed Miss Subways, daily.[1] Around 200 women held the title during the 1941-76 program run by the New York Subways Advertising Company.[2]

Selection

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Mona Freeman Miss Subways of May 1941 on TV with Cliff Robertson 20 years later

The method of selecting Miss Subways varied over time, typically taking the form of a beauty contest with the general rule that, to be eligible, a woman had to be a New York City resident who used the subway, herself. "John Robert Powers, the head of the modeling agency, selected the winners" until 1961 or 1962 and later "for some years, winners were chosen by the contest organizers."[3]

Before 1952, there were monthly selections of Miss Subways. From 1952 to 1957, candidates were picked every two months although "Mr. Powers once picked seven winners to reign side by side in the subway."[1] By 1957, they were all hand-picked based on how much they exuded a "girl next door" quality:

All Miss Subways have one thing in common. They look – or are supposed to look – like the girl next door. About 400 wholesome young things enter each of the three yearly contests. The winners are picked by John Robert Powers model agency millionaire. Mr. Powers says he wants "no glamour gal types or hand-painted masterpieces." Professional models, actresses and entertainers are taboo. Anyone else over 17 may enter. The Miss Subways have been secretaries, service women, nurses, sales girls, and receptionists.[1]

John Robert Powers was no longer involved in selection by 1963 when the contest changed to "public vote ... by post card." The first winner of the public vote was Ann Napolitano who was an executive secretary at the advertising agency Doyle, Dane & Bernbach. The New York Subways Advertising Company "redirected the contest to reflect the girl who works – what New York City is all about."[3] Winners were given bracelets with gold-plated (later, silver-plated) subway tokens."[4] Spaulding commented in 1971 that "Prettiness per se is passé. It's personality and interest pursuits that count" and described how "each contest attracts between 300 and 400 entries, submitted by family, friends and colleagues. About 30 are selected for a personal interview 'to judge personality and make certain that the submitted picture is a good likeness.' Most of the winners have been stenographers, clerks, receptionists and some have been teachers and stewardesses."[3]

Subsequent to the postcard system, winners were usually chosen by telephone-based voting, from among a group of nominees whose photos were placed on the subways. Title holders were photographed by the likes of James J. Kriegsmann who "specialized in pictures of stage and screen stars, but he also photographed ordinary people, including the women who appeared in the Miss Subways promotion for more than 30 years."[5]

In 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in conjunction with the New York Post, brought back the program, now named "Ms. Subways," for one year only. A voting contest was held to determine the winner, Caroline Sanchez-Bernat, an actress.[6] Posters of "Ms. Subways" appeared with subway safety tips instead of biographical notes.

Significance

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Miss Subways began as a way for the John Robert Powers Agency "to promote his models and for the New York Subways Advertising Company 'to increase eye traffic' for the adjoining...advertisements."[4] "The contest provided the main plot device of Leonard Bernstein's 1944 musical On The Town, in which a smitten sailor on leave searched for 'Miss Turnstiles.'"[4]

By 1945, the four-year anniversary of the contest was commemorated nationally in Life Magazine.[7] "Unlike Miss America, these queens represented the full spectrum of their constituency, mainly Irish, Italian, Latina and Jewish. Thelma Potter, who was studying at Brooklyn College at the time, was the first black Miss Subways 1947 (36 years before a black Miss America); the first Asian Miss Subways reigned in 1949."[2] Potter stated, "It was progressive.... It stirred things up a bit."[4]

The New York Subway Advertising Company was owned by Walter O'Malley, who moved the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958.[8] Bernard Spaulding, the sales director for the New York Subways Advertising Company, said in 1971 that Miss Subways "was a World War II pinup phenomenon and then lost social significance."[9] Miss Subways, however, was of "mythic significance to many," with Mayor Ed Koch saying in 1979:

Even now, I can sit in the subway, and look up at the ads, and close my eyes, and there's Miss Subways", he said. "She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world but she was ours. She was our own Miss America."[10]

In 1983, when there were public calls for the contest to continue, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority representative stated that it would be "irrelevant and socially unacceptable," and thus not viable, to restart Miss Subways.[4] Tn 2004, journalist Melanie Bush commented:

[The] posters were also covertly feminist, sometimes shockingly so, even to [Bush], a child of the 70s. From the first ('Mona Freeman, wants to be a top notch freelance illustrator') to the last ('Heidi Hafner ... Her goal: a flight instructor's rating'), they focused on women's ambitions, and in the 1940s or the 70s or [2000s], that's a rare rose to find clamped in the teeth of mass advertising. Yet there it was, and there it more or less firmly remained, probably because the contest was structured during World War II, when more than three million women were offered paying work for the first time, and were thus riding the subways, not to mention operating them, in much greater numbers than before.

The posters were at their most radical during the war years, and equally reflect women's later return to the home. Miss Subways' journey tracks a clear underground parallel to the prescribed roles of her sisters' above: While the civilian women of World War II may have been crucial to the work force, the purpose of housewives, as Betty Friedan puts it, 'is to buy more things for the house.'

From the exhilarating peak of December 1942's Marguerite McAuliffe, 'whose aim is to be a doctor as good as her dad,' and November 1943's Cecile Woodley, whose 'main interests are her job and the Navy ... enthusiastically O.K.'s skiing, Mozart and Katharine Hepburn,' we slide submissively toward Irene Scheidt, June 1950, whose 'fondest hope is a trip to Bermuda.' Then up we go again to Eleanor Nash, November 1960, 'young, beautiful, and expert with a rifle.' ... What I waited for each new month was: What did she do? What were her goals? The Miss Subways I wanted to be was the airplane pilot. Or how about 'travel writer'? 'Scientist'? 'Surgeon'? ... Maybe next month she'd plan to be an astronaut. Or president!

What was actually going on here, I saw, was women, real New York women, talking to each other about their intentions and transmitting these messages through the medium of some men's advertising campaign.[2]

Ellen Hart Sturm, owner of the New York diner Ellen's Stardust Diner, was Miss Subways in 1959; her diner features photos of many past Miss Subways on the walls.

Revival of "Miss Subways"

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In 2017, the "Miss Subways Pageant" was resurrected and produced by The City Reliquary in the backyard of the museum. To update the event for the twenty-first century, the competition was open to all genders, body types, and ages. A panel of local celebrity judges including NY1 reporter Roger Clark awarded the title, sash, and crown to performance artist Lisa Levy. Levy campaigned on a platform of being the first postmenopausal Miss Subways.[11] Miss Congeniality, an addition to the original pageant, was taken by Suzie Sims-Fletcher, a communications consultant. In 2018, The Riders Alliance joined the City Reliquary as a co-organizer of the event. The 2018 winner was Parker MacLure, a government employee who competed in drag.[12][13] The event was hosted at Littlefield in Gowanus. Miss Subways returned to Littlefield for the 2019 event and the winner was Dylan Greenberg, a trans queer musician and director who fronts the band Theophobia.[14]

The event went on hiatus with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and was not presented in 2020, 2021, or 2022. In 2023, the City Reliquary revived the event at the Sideshows by the Seashore Theater of Coney Island USA,[15][16] no longer in partnership with Riders Alliance. The event was emceed by Maggie McMuffin, 2023 Miss Coney Island. The winner of the 2023 Miss Subways crown was Harmony "Hardcore" Vehling, a marketing manager.[17] 2023 celebrity judges included Greg Young from The Bowery Boys podcast, New York Nico, Miss Subways 2017 Lisa Levy, New York City artist Reverend Jen Miller, and Maxine the Fluffy Corgi.[18]

List of titleholders

[edit]
Year Term Name
1941 1 April – 30 April Helen Bennett[19]
1 May – 31 May Mona Freeman[20]
1 June – 30 June Barbara Davis[19]
1 July – 31 July Dorothy Herman[21]
1 August – 31 August –
1 September – 30 September
1 October – 31 October Helen Borgia[7]
1 November – 30 November Muriel Schott[7]
1 December – 31 December Ruth Ericsson[20]
1942 – Rita Ryan[22]
1 January – 31 January –
1 February – 28 February Lucrezia Borgia
1 March – 31 March Elaine Kusins[7]
1 April – 30 April Stasia Mikrut[23]
1 May – 31 May –
1 June – 30 June Dorothea Mate-Michael[24]
1 July – 31 July –
1 August – 31 August Rosemary Gregory[7]
1 September – 30 September Evelyn Clark[7]
1 October – 31 October –
1 November – 30 November Cecile Woodley
1 December – 31 December Marguerite McAuliffe
1943 1 January – 31 January Edna Thompson[25]
1 February – 28 February Connie Sameth
1 March – 31 March Edith Fagan
1 April – 30 April Rose-Ellen Cameron
1 May – 31 May Vita Monterosso[26]
1 June – 30 June Evelyn Friedman[7]
1 July – 31 July –
1 August – 31 August Tera Kathryn Davis[7]
1 September – 30 September –
1 October – 31 October
1 November – 30 November
1 December – 31 December
1944 – Helen Mazley Kenny[1]
1 January – 31 January Anne McConnell
1 February – 29 February Joan Cashman
1 March – 31 March Eileen Henry[7]
1 April – 30 April Joan Vohs[1]
1 May – 31 May Dawna Clawson
Doris Clawson
Dorothy Clawson
1 June – 30 June Winifred McAleer[27]
1 July – 31 July Peggy Healy[7]
1 August – 31 August Mary Radchuck[7]
1 September – 30 September Doris Day
1 October – 31 October –
1 November – 30 November
1 December – 31 December
1945 1 January – 31 January –
1 February – 28 February Jean Grogan[28]
1 March – 31 March –
1 April – 30 April Rita Cuddy[7]
1 May – 31 May –
1 June – 30 June
1 July – 31 July Florence Luriea
1 August – 31 August Marian Hartman
1 September – 30 September –
1 October – 31 October
1 November – 30 November Donna Hansen[29]
1 December – 31 December Peggy Molloy
1946 1 January – 31 January Jeanne Clark[1]
1 February – 28 February Bette Taggart
1 March – 31 March Marie Theresa Thomas
1 April – 30 April Joanne van Cott
1 May – 31 May Dania Cross
1 June – 30 June Lanie Harper
1 July – 31 July Enid Berkowitz[27]
1 August – 31 August Aline Newland
1 September – 30 September Patricia Burke[30]
1 October – 31 October Mary Villacorta
1 November – 30 November Kay Landing
1 December – 31 December Shirley Levine
1947 1 January – 31 January Iris Victor
1 February – 28 February Yola Monte
1 March – 31 March Frances Smith
1 April – 30 April Evelyn Burnley
1 May – 31 May –
1 June – 30 June
1 July – 31 July Jeanne Gibson
1 August – 31 August Joan Attinson
1 September – 30 September June Wallace Thomson
1 October – 31 October Merry Condon
1 November – 30 November –
1 December – 31 December Gene Farley
1948 1 January – 31 January Lynne Lyons
1 February – 29 February Marie McNally
1 March – 31 March –
1 April – 30 April Thelma Porter[31]
1 May – 31 May Joan M. Lyman
1 June – 30 June Alice Smith Carlson
1 July – 31 July Frances Gallic
1 August – 31 August Dolores A. Beaver
1 September – 30 September Rosemary Wilson
1 October 31 October Marilyn Bell
1 November – 30 November Janet Barker
1 December – 31 December Mildred Florio
1949 1 January – 31 January Janet Shanley
1 February – 28 February –
1 March – 31 March Dorothy Nolan
1 April – 30 April –
1 May – 31 May
1 June – 30 June
1 July – 31 July
1 August – 31 August
1 September – 30 September Elaine Levine[32]
1 October – 31 October Harriet Young
1 November – 30 November Helen Lee[33]
1 December – 31 December –
1950 – Margie Marra[34]
1 January – 31 January Mimi Ross
1 February – 28 February Saralee Singer[24]
1 March – 31 March Angela Norris
1 April – 30 April
1 May – 31 May Patti Freeman
1 June – 30 June Irene Scheidt
1 July – 31 July Anne Peregrim
1 August – 31 August Janet Ferguson
1 September – 30 September –
1 October – 31 October Pat De Lieto
1 November – 30 November –
1 December – 31 December
1951 1 January – 31 January Frances Carton[20]
1 February – 28 February Marjorie Miller
1 May – 30 June Paula Ruszkai
1 July – 31 August Perside Stefanini
1 September – 31 October Jean Hagen
1 November – 31 December Connie Kermath
1952 1 January – 29 February Jane Campus
1 March – 30 April Peggy Byrne[27]
1 May – 30 June Anne Landolt
1 July – 31 August –
1 September – 31 October Vanita Brown
1 November – 31 December Luule Kula
1953 1 January – 28 February –
1 March – 30 April Janet Magni Kulisan
1 May – 30 June Mary Gardiner[27]
1 July – 31 August Marie Graham
1 September – 31 October Gwenn Clifford
1 November – 31 December Kathleen McLean
1954 1 January – 28 February –
1 March – 30 April
1 May – 30 June Juliette Rose Lee
1 July – 31 August –
1 September – 31 October
1 November – 31 December
1955 1 January – 28 February Phyllis Johnson[27]
1 March – 30 April Rita Rogers
1 May – 30 June –
1 July – 31 August
1 September – 31 October Sue Rabinowitz
1 November – 31 December Marie Leonard[1]
1956 1 January – 28 February Loretta Bomba
1 March – 30 April Kathleen Walshe
1 May – 30 June Lois Kean
1 July – 31 August Nancy Seris[1]
1 September – 31 October Eleanor Ward
1 November – 31 December Doris Mermel
1957 1 January – 28 February Marie Crittenden
1 March – 30 April Madeleine Seelig
1 May – 30 June –
1 July – 31 August
1 September – 31 October
1 November – 31 December
1958 1 January – 28 February Nancy Denison
1 March – 30 April Eleanor Galanis
1 May – 30 June Lynne Galvin
1 July – 31 August Helen Steinacher
1 September – 31 October Kathryn Keeler[6]
Mary Keeler[6]
1 November – 31 December Josephine Milici
1959 1 January – 28 February Adrienne Marie Cella
1 March – 30 April Ellen Hart[27]
1 May – 30 June Sheila Stein
Joyce Griffin
Sally Salve
Gail Burke
1 July – 31 August –
1 September – 31 October
1 November – 31 December
1960 1 January – 29 February Deanne Goldman
1 March – 30 April Peggy Kelly
1 May – 30 June Shirley Martin
1 July – 31 August Barbara Butler
1 September – 31 October Elizabeth Stern
1 November – 31 December Eleanor Nash
1961 1 January – 28 February Dolores Mitchell
1 March – 30 April Joan Raftery
1 May – 30 June Judie Shaktman
1 July – 31 August Kathy Pregenzer
1 September – 31 October Vernell Dennis
1 November – 31 December Stella Deere
Before 1962 – Kathy Dempsey[35]
1962 1 January – 28 February Evelyn Tasch[35]
1 March – 30 April Dorothy Callaghan
1 May – 30 June Sue Collins
1 July – 31 August Barbara Sheehan
1 September – 31 October Sally Pishney[27]
1 November – 31 December –
1963 1 September – 30 September Carole Nealon[27]
1964 1 January – 31 March Sanora Selsey
1965 – Judith Marshall[3]
1966 Carol Price[3]
1967 Barbara Preer
1 December – 31 January 1968 Neddy Garde[24]
1968 1 February – 31 August Maureen Walsh[24]
1969 – Eileen Ryan[36]
1971 1 January – 30 June Patricia Shilling[3]
Linda Heilbronn[3]
1974 1 May – 31 July Sonia Dominguez[24]
31 October – May 1975 Marcia Kilpatrick
1975 1 April – 31 October Ayana Lawson[24]
Before 1976 – Josephine Lazzaro[4]
Donna Demarta[4]
Barbara Peer[4]
1976 (last) Heide Hafner[4]
2004 (honorary) Caroline Sanchez-Bernat[6]
2017 Lisa Levy[14]
2018 Parker MacLure[14]
2019 Dylan Greenberg[14]
2023 Harmony "Hardcore" Vehling
[edit]
  • In the 1944 musical On the Town, one of the main characters falls in love with "Miss Turnstiles" after seeing her picture on the subway. Lyricist Betty Comden later claimed that the musical influenced the contest's selection process to include more diverse contestants, due to the casting of the half-Japanese Sono Osato as Miss Turnstiles in the original production.[20][37]
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry collection A Coney Island of the Mind contains a poem entitled "Meet Miss Subways."
  • Donald Sosin's 1972 song cycle "Third Rail" includes the entire text of a Miss Subways poster, but with the name of the girl and her school changed at her request.
  • Cher's 1974 album, Dark Lady, featured the comedic song, "Miss Subway of 1952," written by Mary F. Cain, about a once-beautiful woman who has not aged gracefully.
  • In the 1996 The Nanny episode "Tattoo" (Season 4 episode 9), Fran claims to have won the Miss Subways title.
  • In 1996, Marga Gomez debuted a show called "A Line Around the Block" in which a character says, "You're Miss America. No, better than that. Miss Subways."[38]
  • The 2018 historical fiction novel The Subway Girls (St. Martin's Press) by Susie Orman Schnall features a dual-timeline story of a 1949 Miss Subways contestant and a modern-day female advertising executive.
  • In the 2018 novel Miss Subways (ISBN 978-0-37421-040-3, Macmillan Publishers), writer and actor David Duchovny re-imagines Miss Subways as Emer, a New York City teacher whose world intersects with mythical figures in her quest for love.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Robertson, Nan (February 18, 1957). "Miss Subways Reigns: Persephone to 5 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Bush, Melanie (October 24, 2004). "Miss Subways, Subversive and Sublime". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Nemy, Enid (December 8, 1971). "Miss Subways of '41, Meet Miss Subways of '71" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Geist, William E. (October 15, 1983). "Subway queens of old to gather for reunion". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  5. ^ "James J. Kriegsmann; Theatrical Photographer, 85". The New York Times. May 1, 1994. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d Ramirez, Anthony (October 26, 2004). "After a 28-Year Hiatus, Miss (er, Ms.) Subways Is Back". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "... New York City's Miss Subways is 4 Years Old". Life Magazine. April 23, 1945. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  8. ^ Schwarz, Alan (12 November 2014). "Baseball's 100 Most Important People, Part 3". Our Game. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  9. ^ Johnston, Laurie (August 22, 1983). "New York By Day: Calling all Miss Subways". The New York Times. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  10. ^ Collins, Glen (December 19, 1979). "Metropolitan Diary" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  11. ^ Bergstein, Rachelle (19 September 2018). "Reigning Miss Subways: 'I get a lot of complaints' from riders". New York Post. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. ^ Chung, Jen (28 September 2018). "Photos: Miss Subways Crowned After Drinking A 'Vial Of Cuomo's Tears'". Gothamist. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. ^ Weaver, Shaye (25 September 2019). "Miss Subways Extravaganza, a pageant for straphangers, is taking applications". amNY. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d Lokting, Britta (October 8, 2019). "Miss Subways Is Back. This Year, a New Wave Rocker Takes the Crown". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  15. ^ Ginsburg, Aaron. "Miss Subways' contest returns to NYC for first time since 2019". 6sqft. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  16. ^ Camille, Jada (7 April 2023). "Historic 'Miss Subway' beauty contest coming to Coney Island". Brooklyn Paper.
  17. ^ Lynch, Scott (May 2023). "Harmony Hardcore Crowned Miss Subways 2023". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  18. ^ Camille, Jada. "Miss Subways' contest returns to NYC for first time since 2019". 6sqft. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  19. ^ a b Liebert, Herman (9 June 1941). "Different model for each month helps put New York idea across". Toledo Blade. p. 72. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ a b c d Bayen, Ann (March 29, 1976). "Token Women". New York Magazine. p. 46. Retrieved October 7, 2011..
  21. ^ Blanck, Katherine (21 July 1941). "Miss Subways for July hails from Hewlett". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 6. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Miss Subways Wins Custody of Her Child" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. August 7, 1946. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  23. ^ "A Woman's..." Reading Eagle. 11 April 1942. p. 34. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Google Books.
  24. ^ a b c d e f "Saw You on the E Train". The New York Times. December 29, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  25. ^ Lyons, Leonard (2 February 1943). "The Lyons Den". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 21. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Miss Subways has more than beauty". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 4 March 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h "Miss Subways through the years: The iconic NYC beauty queens then and now". New York Daily News. April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2013.
  28. ^ Driscoll, Charles B. (12 March 1945). "New York Day by Day". Greensburg Daily Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Google Books.
  29. ^ "Manhattan's subway alumni back Irish to slow rampaging cadets". The Washington Reporter. 8 November 1945. p. 13. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Google Books.
  30. ^ "Meet Miss Subways". The New York Times. October 23, 2004. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  31. ^ "New York's "Miss Subways"". New Pittsburgh Courier. 17 April 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Neuman, William (March 24, 2007). "A Museum-Quality Car for a Subway Yet Unbuilt". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  33. ^ Lee, Jennifer (21 April 2009). "There She Is, From a Trailblazing Beauty Pageant". City Room. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via The New York Times.
  34. ^ "Next Stop, Nostalgia; Watch the Closing Doors". The New York Times. March 14, 1989. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  35. ^ a b Robertson, Nan (January 18, 1962). "Champagne Hour Flat on Subway" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  36. ^ Dembart, Lee (9 May 1973). "Miss Rhinegold is gone; Miss Subways rumbles on". The Raleigh Register. p. 11. Retrieved 7 August 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Klein, Alvin (June 6, 1993), "'On the Town' in Revival at Goodspeed Opera", The New York Times, retrieved October 7, 2011
  38. ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (April 3, 1996). "Theater Review; Daddy's Miss Subways". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013.

Further reading

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