Miss America 1933

Miss America 1933, the eighth Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 9, 1933. This was the first competition since postponing the event after the 1927 contest. Armand Nichols attempted to organize it with the support of the Mayor and City Council,^[1] but without support from either the Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce.^[2] or the Hotelsmens Association,^[1]

Miss America 1933
Date	September 5–9, 1933
Venue	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Entrants	31
Placements	18
Winner	Marian Bergeron Connecticut
← 1927 1935 →

While the contestants of the pageants of the 1920s represented cities, usually sponsored by local newspapers, 1933 marked the change to state queens with little newspaper sponsorship. The lack of organizational infrastructure together with the decline of (free) newspaper support and advertising resulted in state qualifying contests that varied widely - from multi-day multi-city contests involving thousands, to a simple selection from a photo array.

The 1933 pageant, a five-day extravaganza on Tuesday-Saturday, September 5–9, 1933, was the first to be held at the Convention Hall (later renamed the Boardwalk Hall). Promised grand prizes (including a RKO screen test, theatrical contracts, Ford automobile, diamond wrist watch and a trip to Bermuda) enticed 31 contestants from 30 states nationwide,^[2] far fewer than the 48 state contestants originally planned.

Marian Bergeron, Miss Connecticut, was chosen Miss America but there was so much confusion during and after the vote tabulations that nobody informed Marian she had won.^[3] She was unaware of her victory until the dressing assistants placed the banner on her.^[3] At age 15 she is the youngest winner in the history of the Miss America Pageant.

The pageant was a public relations nightmare, financially unsuccessful, with a "Keystone Kops [sic] series of mishaps"^[4] including a stolen crown. Two contestants withdrew, four were disqualified, four were underage, and 18 states sent no contestant. Amid the contention and bickering there were allegations the contest was not on the "up and up"^[5] and judge Russell Patterson alleged undue influence, stating that Atlantic County treasurer and political boss Nucky Johnson tried to pressure the judges to choose his favorite.^[6] The pageant went on hiatus again the following year but was revived permanently in 1935 with new organization.

Results

Marion Bergeron crowned as Miss America of 1933; first runner-up Miss New York State Florence Meyers on the right and second runner-up Miss California Blanche McDonald on the left. (See reference #9 below). Marion was so petite that she was dwarfed by the mammoth crown: "It was so big it came right down over my eyes," Marion recalled with a laugh. Then, during the rush of post-coronation activities, the crown was stolen from Miss America's suite at the Ritz Carlton.

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss America 1933	Connecticut – Marian Bergeron
1st Runner-Up	New York – Florence Meyers[7]
2nd Runner-Up	California – Blanche McDonald
3rd Runner-Up	Virginia – Evangeline Glidewell
Top 18	District of Columbia – Rita Burns Kentucky – Lucille Rader Louisiana – Marjorie Hagler Maine – Iva Stewart Massachusetts – Elsie Taylor Michigan – Barbara Strand Mississippi – Dorothy Eley Missouri – Marie LaTourette Marks New Jersey – Gertrude Christman Ohio – Corinne Porter Pennsylvania – Geraldine Glassman Washington – Gladine Sweetser West Virginia – Mildred Fetty Wisconsin – Marie Marguerite Huebner

Other awards - September 6: Most Beautiful Girl in an Evening Gown Competition

Sep 6 Evening Gown Competition at the American Beauty Ball Gala, Gateway Casino, Somers Point, NJ - from left: third place Miss CA, winner Miss NYS, second place Miss NJ. (see picture of all contestants at the bottom of the page)

Result	Contestant
Winner of the Evening Gown competition	New York – Florence Meyers
Second Place	New Jersey – Gertrude Christman
Third Place	California – Blanche McDonald
Semi-Finalists	Connecticut – Marian Bergeron Maine – Iva Stewart Michigan – Barbara Strand New York City – Elsa Donath Pennsylvania – Geraldine Glassman Virginia – Evangeline Glidewell Washington – Gladine Sweetser

Contestants

29 Miss America contestants with Pageant Organizer Armand Nichols and hostess Miss Atlantic City (Miss Maine is missing as she had no bathing suit; Miss Oklahoma had withdrawn due to hospitalization with appendicitis). Thank you to Louis K. Meisel for sharing this from his Miss America panorama collection.

State/City	Name	Hometown	Age	Placement
Arkansas	Vivian Ferguson	Little Rock	21	Disqualified - married[8]
California	Blanche McDonald	Hollywood, Los Angeles	18	2nd runner-up, #3 Evening Gown competition
Connecticut	Marian Bergeron	West Haven	15	Winner
Delaware	Victoria George	Newark	19
District of Columbia	Rita Burns	Washington, D.C.	19	Top 18
Idaho	Margaret Wittman	Spokane, Washington	19	Disqualified - residency
Illinois	Lillian Mary Kroener[9]	St. Louis, Missouri	18	Disqualified - residency
Iowa	Eleanor Alma Dankenbring	Manning, Iowa	20	Disqualified - residency[10]
Kansas	Pauline Sayre	Wichita	23
Kentucky	Lucille Rader	Berea	14	Top 18
Louisiana	Marjorie Hagler	Winnfield	18	Top 18
Maine	Iva Stewart	Hebron	19	Top 18
Maryland	Dorothy Dennis	Baltimore	16
Massachusetts	Elsie Taylor	South Walpole	23	Top 18
Michigan	Barbara Strand	Dearborn	17	Top 18
Mississippi	Dorothy Eley	Moss Point	24	Top 18
Missouri	Marie LaTourette Marks	St. Louis	15	Top 18
New Hampshire	Letha Langley[11]	Caribou, Maine	19
New Jersey	Gertrude Christman	Ridgefield	15	Top 18, #2 Evening Gown competition
New Mexico	Julia Valdez	Albuquerque	18
New York City	Elsa Donath	Bronx, New York City	19	withdrew[12]
New York State	Florence Meyers	East Rockaway, Long Island	21	1st runner-up, #1 Evening Gown competition
North Carolina	Leola Councilman	Bonlee	20
Ohio	Corinne Porter	Youngstown	19	Top 18
Oklahoma	Joanne Alcorn	Ponca City	16	withdrew[13]
Pennsylvania	Geraldine Glassman	Philadelphia	18	Top 18
Vermont	Nettina Anne Rich[14]	Norton, Massachusetts	19
Virginia	Evangeline Glidewell	Danville	18	3rd runner-up
Washington	Gladine Sweetser	Seattle	22	Top 18
West Virginia	Mildred Fetty	Clarksburg	20	Top 18
Wisconsin	Marie Marguerite Huebner	Portage	19	Top 18

program of the 1933 Miss America Pageant - history, program of events, advertisements, but nothing on the contestants (18-page pdf)