The Time Machine section provides a glimpse of the brief history of our beloved international beauty pageants.

It was initially intended to be a one-off event as part of the Festival of Britain; an international Bathing Beauty Competition took place at the Lyceum Ballroom in London.

A bathing beauty competition is a novelty during the era; it was the brainchild of Eric Morley, who is a retired captain of the army turned shrewd businessman holding various entertainment ventures. Mr. Morley has started hosting BBC’s “Come Dancing” which would eventually become the television network’s longest running series.

An officer then approached him who has been put in charge of the publicity for the Festival of Britain. Mr. Morley suggested holding a bathing competition, which could be the center attraction of the festival.

The Contest attracted 26 young and beautiful contenders. Out of the 26, 21 of the contestants are from Great Britain and one each from Denmark, France, Holland (now the Netherlands), USA, and Sweden.

Winner

Kerstin “Kiki” Hakansson, the contestant from Sweden, was crowned the winner. To date, she is the only winner of the Miss World contest who was crowned in a bathing suit. She also reigned for 475 days, the longest of any Miss World winner.

When it was announced that a new contest would be held in the United States, Morley persuaded his bosses who organized the event to keep the contest going. And indeed, it has kept going ever since.

Facts Sheet Of Miss World 1951

Other Contestants

Note: List of Contestants is incomplete.

The post Time Machine: The First Miss World Contest appeared first on The Pageantry.