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One of the 24 beauty queens chosen by the judges of the first photographic beauty competition, which was sponsored by a Parisian magazine in 1902. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Viola Dana sits in a chair of flowers after winning a 1920 beauty contest in Hollywood. (General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)
Margaret Gorman Cahill, 15, won the first Miss America contest in Atlantic City, N.J. in 1921. Her formal title was queen of Atlantic City's "Inter-City Beauty Pageant," which later became the Miss America Pageant. (AP Photo/handout)
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Mary Campbell, second from left, won the 1922 Miss America contest. At far left is Armand T. Nichols, director of the pageant. Gorman, the previous winner, is at right. (Bettmann/CORBIS)
Ruth Malcolmson represented the Quaker City as Miss Philadelphia in 1924 and went on to win the Miss America title. (Underwood & Underwood/Corbis)
Original caption: "Robed In Queenly Attire! Sweeping the 15 judges virtually off their feet, Miss Norma Smallwood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, captured the Beauty Queen's crown at Atlantic City on Sept. 10th. This photo shows Miss America 1926 in her regal robes, seated on her throne at Atlantic City." (Bettmann/CORBIS)
Miss America, 1927. (Underwood & Underwood/Corbis)
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Miss America, 1940. (Underwood & Underwood/Corbis)
Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.
