Miss Subways

{{Short description|New York City advertising campaign (1941–1976)}} [[File:NYC Transit Museum Miss Subways.jpg|thumb|right|250px|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.<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18">{{cite news |title=Miss Subways Reigns: Persephone to 5 Million |first=Nan |last=Robertson |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/02/18/84952812.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 18, 1957 |access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref> Around 200 women held the title during the 1941-76 program run by the New York Subways Advertising Company.<ref name="nyt-2004-10-24">{{cite news |title=Miss Subways, Subversive and Sublime |first=Melanie |last=Bush |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/nyregion/thecity/24subw.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 24, 2004 |access-date=October 7, 2011}}</ref>

==Selection== [[File:Cliff Robertson Mona Freeman Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon 1961.JPG|thumb|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."<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08">{{cite news |title=Miss Subways of '41, Meet Miss Subways of '71 |first=Enid |last=Nemy |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/12/08/90704704.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 8, 1971 |access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref>

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."<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18"/> By 1957, they were all hand-picked based on how much they exuded a "girl next door" quality:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18"/>}}

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."<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08"/> Winners were given bracelets with gold-plated (later, silver-plated) subway tokens."<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15">{{cite news |last=Geist |first=William E. |date=October 15, 1983 |title=Subway queens of old to gather for reunion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/15/nyregion/subway-queens-of-old-to-gather-for-reunion.html |access-date=April 22, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> 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."<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08"/>

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."<ref name="nyt-1994-05-01">{{cite news |title=James J. Kriegsmann; Theatrical Photographer, 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/01/obituaries/james-j-kriegsmann-theatrical-photographer-85.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 1, 1994 |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref>

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.<ref name="nyt-2004-10-26">{{cite news |title=After a 28-Year Hiatus, Miss (er, Ms.) Subways Is Back |first=Anthony |last=Ramirez |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/nyregion/26subway.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 26, 2004 |access-date=October 7, 2011}}</ref> Posters of "Ms. Subways" appeared with subway safety tips instead of biographical notes.

==Significance==

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."<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15"/> "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.'"<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15"/>

By 1945, the four-year anniversary of the contest was commemorated nationally in ''Life Magazine''.<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23"> {{cite news |date=April 23, 1945 |title=... New York City's Miss Subways is 4 Years Old |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12 |access-date=April 21, 2013 |magazine=Life Magazine |via=Google Books}}</ref> "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."<ref name="nyt-2004-10-24"/> Potter stated, "It was progressive.... It stirred things up a bit."<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15"/>

The New York Subway Advertising Company was owned by Walter O'Malley, who moved the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schwarz |first1=Alan |last2=Thorn |first2=John |title=Baseball's 100 Most Important People, Part 3 |url=http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2014/11/12/ |website=Our Game |access-date=24 November 2015 |date=12 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125092917/http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2014/11/12/ |archive-date=25 November 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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."<ref name="nyt-1983-08-22">{{cite news |title=New York By Day: Calling all Miss Subways |first=Laurie |last=Johnston |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/22/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-calling-all-miss-subways.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 22, 1983 |access-date=April 23, 2013}}</ref> Miss Subways, however, was of "mythic significance to many," with Mayor Ed Koch saying in 1979:

{{Blockquote|1=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."<ref name="nyt-1979-12-19">{{cite news |title=Metropolitan Diary |first=Glen |last=Collins|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1979/12/19/113927762.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 19, 1979 |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref>}}

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.<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15"/> In 2004, journalist Melanie Bush commented:

{{Blockquote|1=[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.<ref name="nyt-2004-10-24"/>}}

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"== 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bergstein |first1=Rachelle |title=Reigning Miss Subways: 'I get a lot of complaints' from riders |url=https://nypost.com/2018/09/19/reigning-miss-subways-i-get-a-lot-of-complaints-from-riders/ |website=New York Post |date=19 September 2018 |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chung |first1=Jen |title=Photos: Miss Subways Crowned After Drinking A 'Vial Of Cuomo's Tears' |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/photos-miss-subways-crowned-after-drinking-a-vial-of-cuomos-tears |website=Gothamist |date=28 September 2018 |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Weaver |first1=Shaye |title=Miss Subways Extravaganza, a pageant for straphangers, is taking applications |url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/things-to-do/miss-subways-nyc-1-36789989/ |website=amNY |date=25 September 2019 |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NYT-2019-10-08">{{cite news |title=Miss Subways Is Back. This Year, a New Wave Rocker Takes the Crown |first=Britta |last=Lokting|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/nyregion/Miss-Subways-NYC.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 8, 2019 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref>

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,<ref name="Ginsberg">{{cite web |last1=Ginsburg |first1=Aaron |date=11 April 2023 |title=Miss Subways' contest returns to NYC for first time since 2019 |url=https://www.6sqft.com/miss-subways-contest-2023-headed-to-coney-island/ |website=6sqft |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Camille |first1=Jada |title=Historic 'Miss Subway' beauty contest coming to Coney Island |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/historic-miss-subway-beauty-contest-coming-to-coney-island/ |website=Brooklyn Paper|date=7 April 2023 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lynch |first1=Scott |title=Harmony Hardcore Crowned Miss Subways 2023 |url=https://www.bkmag.com/2023/04/30/harmony-hardcore-is-crowned-miss-subways-2023/#:~:text=Decked%20out%20in%207%2Dtrain,%E2%80%9D%20in%20subway%2Dstyle%20lettering. |website=Brooklyn Magazine |date=May 2023 |access-date=11 May 2023}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Ginsberg" />

==List of titleholders==

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;" |- ! Year ! Term ! Name |- | rowspan="9" | 1941 | 1 April – 30 April

|{{sortname|Helen|Bennett|nolink=1}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Liebert |first=Herman |date=9 June 1941 |title=Different model for each month helps put New York idea across |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HscwAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Miss+Subways%22&pg=PA72 |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=Toledo Blade |pages=72 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- | 1 May – 31 May | {{sortname|Mona|Freeman}}<ref name="nym-1976-03-29" /> |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Barbara|Davis|nolink=1}}<ref name=":0" /> |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Dorothy|Herman|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blanck |first=Katherine |date=21 July 1941 |title=Miss Subways for July hails from Hewlett |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle/152811259/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> |- |1 August – 31 August | rowspan="2" |– |- |1 September – 30 September |- |1 October – 31 October |{{sortname|Helen|Borgia|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 November – 30 November |{{sortname|Muriel|Schott|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 December – 31 December |{{sortname|Ruth|Ericsson|nolink=1}}<ref name="nym-1976-03-29" /> |- | rowspan="13" |1942 |– |{{sortname|Rita|Ryan|nolink=1}}<ref name="LIS-J-1946-08-07">{{cite news |date=August 7, 1946 |title=Miss Subways Wins Custody of Her Child |url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2014/Long%20Island%20City%20NY%20Star%20Journal/Long%20Island%20City%20NY%20Star%20Journal%201946/Long%20Island%20City%20NY%20Star%20Journal%201946%20-%203560.pdf |access-date=April 21, 2013 |newspaper=Long Island Star-Journal}}</ref> |- |1 January – 31 January |''–'' |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Lucrezia|Borgia|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Elaine|Kusins|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Stasia|Mikrut|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 April 1942 |title=A Woman's... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzoiAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Stasia+Mikrut%22&pg=PA34 |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=Reading Eagle |pages=34 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- |1 May – 31 May |''–'' |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Dorothea|Mate|nolink=1}}-Michael<ref name="nyt-2007-12-29">{{cite news |date=December 29, 2007 |title=Saw You on the E Train |url=https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/12/29/nyregion/thecity/20071230_MISSSUBWAYS_SLIDESHOW_index.html |access-date=April 21, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> |- |1 July – 31 July |''–'' |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Rosemary|Gregory|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|Evelyn|Clark|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 October – 31 October |''–'' |- |1 November – 30 November |{{sortname|Cecile|Woodley|nolink=1}} |- |1 December – 31 December |{{sortname|Marguerite|McAuliffe|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="12" |1943 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Edna|Thompson|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lyons |first=Leonard |date=2 February 1943 |title=The Lyons Den |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcMwAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Miss+Subways%22&pg=PA21 |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |pages=21 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Connie|Sameth|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Edith|Fagan|nolink=1}} |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Rose-Ellen|Cameron|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 31 May |Vita Monterosso<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 March 1943 |title=Miss Subways has more than beauty |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-vita-monterosso/412425/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Evelyn|Friedman|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 July – 31 July |''–'' |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Tera Kathryn|Davis|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 September – 30 September | rowspan="4" |''–'' |- |1 October – 31 October |- |1 November – 30 November |- |1 December – 31 December |- | rowspan="15" |1944 |– |{{sortname|Helen|Mazley Kenny|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18" /> |- |1 January – 31 January |Anne McConnell |- |1 February – 29 February |{{sortname|Joan|Cashman|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Eileen|Henry|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Joan|Vohs}}<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18" /> |- | rowspan="3" |1 May – 31 May |{{sortname|Dawna|Clawson|nolink=1}} |- |{{sortname|Doris|Clawson|nolink=1}} |- |{{sortname|Dorothy|Clawson|nolink=1}} |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Winifred|McAleer|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19">{{cite news |date=April 19, 2013 |title=Miss Subways through the years: The iconic NYC beauty queens then and now |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/subways-nyc-iconic-beauty-queens-gallery-1.1311904 |access-date=April 21, 2013 |newspaper=New York Daily News}}</ref> |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Peggy|Healy|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Mary|Radchuck|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|Doris|Day|nolink=1}} |- |1 October – 31 October | rowspan="3" |''–'' |- |1 November – 30 November |- |1 December – 31 December |- | rowspan="12" |1945 |1 January – 31 January |''–'' |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Jean|Grogan|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Driscoll |first=Charles B. |date=12 March 1945 |title=New York Day by Day |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFRUAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Miss+Subways%22&pg=PA3 |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=Greensburg Daily Tribune |pages=3 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- |1 March – 31 March |''–'' |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Rita|Cuddy|nolink=1}}<ref name="lifem-1945-4-23" /> |- |1 May – 31 May | rowspan="2" |''–'' |- |1 June – 30 June |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Florence|Luriea|nolink=1}} |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Marian|Hartman|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 30 September |– |- |1 October – 31 October | |- |1 November – 30 November |{{sortname|Donna|Hansen|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 November 1945 |title=Manhattan's subway alumni back Irish to slow rampaging cadets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a0ldAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22Miss+Subways%22&pg=PA13 |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=The Washington Reporter |pages=13 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- |1 December – 31 December |{{sortname|Peggy|Molloy|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="12" |1946 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Jeanne|Clark|nolink=1}}''<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18" />'' |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Bette|Taggart|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Marie Theresa|Thomas|nolink=1}} |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Joanne|van Cott|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 31 May |{{sortname|Dania|Cross|nolink=1}} |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Lanie|Harper|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Enid|Berkowitz|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Aline|Newland|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|Patricia|Burke|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2004-10-23">{{cite news |date=October 23, 2004 |title=Meet Miss Subways |url=https://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/10/23/nyregion/thecity/20041024_subw_graph.html |access-date=April 22, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> |- |1 October – 31 October |{{sortname|Mary|Villacorta|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 30 November |{{sortname|Kay|Landing|nolink=1}} |- |1 December – 31 December |{{sortname|Shirley|Levine|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="12" |1947 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Iris|Victor|nolink=1}} |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Yola|Monte|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Frances|Smith|nolink=1}} |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Evelyn|Burnley|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 31 May | rowspan="2" |''–'' |- |1 June – 30 June |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Jeanne|Gibson|nolink=1}} |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Joan|Attinson|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|June|Wallace Thomson|nolink=1}} |- |1 October – 31 October |{{sortname|Merry|Condon|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 30 November |''–'' |- |1 December – 31 December |{{sortname|Gene|Farley|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="12" |1948 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Lynne|Lyons|nolink=1}} |- |1 February – 29 February |{{sortname|Marie|McNally|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 31 March |''–'' |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Thelma|Porter|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 April 1948 |title=New York's "Miss Subways" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-pittsburgh-courier/52365242/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=New Pittsburgh Courier |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> |- |1 May – 31 May |{{sortname|Joan M.|Lyman|nolink=1}} |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Alice |Smith Carlson|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Frances|Gallic|nolink=1}} |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Dolores A.|Beaver|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|Rosemary|Wilson|nolink=1}} |- |1 October 31 October |{{sortname|Marilyn |Bell|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 30 November |{{sortname|Janet|Barker|nolink=1}} |- |1 December – 31 December |{{sortname|Mildred|Florio|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="12" |1949 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Janet |Shanley|nolink=1}} |- |1 February – 28 February |''–'' |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Dorothy|Nolan|nolink=1}} |- |1 April – 30 April | rowspan="5" |''–'' |- |1 May – 31 May |- |1 June – 30 June |- |1 July – 31 July |- |1 August – 31 August |- |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|Elaine|Levine|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2007-03-24">{{cite news |last=Neuman |first=William |date=March 24, 2007 |title=A Museum-Quality Car for a Subway Yet Unbuilt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/24/nyregion/24subway.html?pagewanted=print |access-date=April 22, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> |- |1 October – 31 October |{{sortname|Harriet|Young|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 30 November |{{sortname|Helen|Lee|Helen Lee (model)|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Jennifer |date=21 April 2009 |title=There She Is, From a Trailblazing Beauty Pageant |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/there-she-is-from-a-trailblazing-beauty-pageant/ |access-date=7 August 2024 |website=City Room |language=en |via=The New York Times}}</ref> |- |1 December – 31 December |''–'' |- | rowspan="12" |1950 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Mimi|Ross|nolink=1}} |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Saralee|Singer|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2007-12-29" /> |- |1 March – 31 March |{{sortname|Angela|Vorsteg|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 March 1950 |title=Reigns this month as 'Miss Subways' |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRUrAAAAIBAJ&dq=%22miss+subways%22&pg=PA4 |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Reading Eagle |pages=4 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- |1 April – 30 April |{{sortname|Margie|Marra|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1989-03-14">{{cite news |date=March 14, 1989 |title=Next Stop, Nostalgia; Watch the Closing Doors |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/14/nyregion/next-stop-nostalgia-watch-the-closing-doors.html |access-date=April 22, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525120105/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/14/nyregion/next-stop-nostalgia-watch-the-closing-doors.html |archive-date=May 25, 2015}}</ref> |- |1 May – 31 May |{{sortname|Patti|Freeman|nolink=1}} |- |1 June – 30 June |{{sortname|Irene|Scheidt|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 July |{{sortname|Anne|Peregrim|nolink=1}} |- |1 August – 31 August |{{sortname|Janet|Ferguson|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 30 September |– |- |1 October – 31 October |{{sortname|Pat|De Lieto|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 30 November | rowspan="2" |– |- |1 December – 31 December |- | rowspan="6" |1951 |1 January – 31 January |{{sortname|Frances|Carton|nolink=1}}<ref name="nym-1976-03-29" /> |- |1 February – 28 February |{{sortname|Marjorie|Miller|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Paula|Ruszkai|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Perside|Stefanini|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Jean |Hagen|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Connie|Kermath|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="6" |1952 |1 January – 29 February |{{sortname|Jane|Campus|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Peggy|Byrne|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Anne|Landolt|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |– |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Vanita|Brown|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Luule|Kula|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="6" |1953 |1 January – 28 February |– |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Janet Magni|Kulisan|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Mary|Gardiner|Mary Gardiner (Miss Subways)|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Marie|Graham|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Gwenn|Clifford|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Kathleen|McLean|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="6" |1954 |1 January – 28 February | rowspan="2" |– |- |1 March – 30 April |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Juliette Rose|Lee|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |– |- |1 September – 31 October |Eleanor Ward |- |1 November – 31 December |– |- | rowspan="6" |1955 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Phyllis|Johnson|Phyllis Johnson (Miss Subways)|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Rita|Rogers|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June | rowspan="2" |– |- |1 July – 31 August |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Sue|Rabinowitz|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Marie|Leonard|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18" /> |- | rowspan="6" |1956 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Loretta|Bomba|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Kathleen|Walshe|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Lois|Kean|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Nancy|Seris|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1957-02-18" /> |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Eleanor|Ward|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Doris|Mermel|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="6" |1957 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Marie|Crittenden|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |Madeleine Seelig |- |1 May – 30 June | rowspan="4" |– |- |1 July – 31 August |- |1 September – 31 October |- |1 November – 31 December |- | rowspan="7" |1958 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Nancy|Denison|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |Eleanor Galanis |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Lynne|Galvin|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Helen|Steinacher|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="2" |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Kathryn|Keeler|Kathry Keeler (Miss Subways)|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2004-10-26" /> |- |{{sortname|Mary|Keeler}}<ref name="nyt-2004-10-26" /> |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Josephine|Milici|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="9" |1959 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Adrienne Marie|Cella|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Ellen|Hart|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- | rowspan="4" |1 May – 30 June |Sheila Stein |- |Joyce Griffin |- |Sally Salve |- |Gail Burke |- |1 July – 31 August | rowspan="3" |– |- |1 September – 31 October |- |1 November – 31 December |- | rowspan="6" |1960 |1 January – 29 February |{{sortname|Deanne|Goldman|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Peggy|Kelly|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Shirley|Martin|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Barbara|Butler|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Elizabeth|Stern|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Eleanor|Nash|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="6" |1961 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Dolores|Mitchell|nolink=1}} |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Joan |Raftery|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Judie|Shaktman|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Kathy|Pregenzer|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Vernell|Dennis|nolink=1}} |- |1 November – 31 December |{{sortname|Stella|Deere|nolink=1}} |- |Before 1962 |– |{{sortname|Kathy|Dempsey|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1962-01-18">{{cite news |last=Robertson |first=Nan |date=January 18, 1962 |title=Champagne Hour Flat on Subway |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/01/18/121651355.pdf |access-date=April 22, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> |- | rowspan="6" |1962 |1 January – 28 February |{{sortname|Evelyn|Tasch|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1962-01-18" /> |- |1 March – 30 April |{{sortname|Dorothy|Callaghan|nolink=1}} |- |1 May – 30 June |{{sortname|Sue|Collins|nolink=1}} |- |1 July – 31 August |{{sortname|Barbara|Sheehan|nolink=1}} |- |1 September – 31 October |{{sortname|Sally|Pishney|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- |1 November – 31 December |– |- |1963 |1 September – 30 September |{{sortname|Carole|Nealon|nolink=1}}<ref name="nydn-2013-04-19" /> |- |1964 |1 January – 31 March |{{sortname|Sanora|Selsey|nolink=1}} |- | rowspan="2" |1965 | rowspan="5" |– |{{sortname|Judith|Marshall}}<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08" /> |- |Rosalind Cinclini<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pauley |first=Gay |date=20 August 1965 |title=Unusual beauty contest has no bathing suit category |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sogbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA31 |access-date=15 September 2025 |work=The Dispatch |page=9 |via=Google Books}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2" |1966 |{{sortname|Carol|Price|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08" /> |- |Donna DeMarta<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15" /> |- | rowspan="2" |1967 |{{sortname|Barbara|Preer|nolink=1}} |- |1 December – 31 January 1968 |{{sortname|Neddy|Garde|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2007-12-29" /> |- |1968 |1 February – 31 August |{{sortname|Maureen|Walsh|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2007-12-29" /> |- |1969 |– |{{sortname|Eileen|Ryan|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dembart |first=Lee |date=9 May 1973 |title=Miss Rhinegold is gone; Miss Subways rumbles on |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-raleigh-register-raleigh-register-b/5577443/ |archive-url= |access-date=7 August 2024 |work=The Raleigh Register |pages=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2" |1971 | rowspan="2" |1 January – 30 June |{{sortname|Patricia|Shilling|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08" /> |- |{{sortname|Linda|Heilbronn|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1971-12-08" /> |- |1973 |1 November – 30 April 1974 |Carol Brown |- | rowspan="2" |1974 |1 May – 31 July |{{sortname|Sonia|Dominguez|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2007-12-29" /> |- |1 November – 30 April 1975 |{{sortname|Marcia|Kilpatrick|nolink=1}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Jennifer 8 |date=21 April 2009 |title=There She Is, From a Trailblazing Beauty Pageant |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/there-she-is-from-a-trailblazing-beauty-pageant/ |access-date=20 November 2024 |website=City Room |language=en}}</ref> |- | rowspan="2" |1975 |1 May – 31 October |{{sortname|Ayana|Lawson|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-2007-12-29" /> |- |1 November – 30 April 1976 |{{sortname|Josephine|Lazzaro|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15" /> |- |1976 |1 May – 31 October |{{sortname|Heide|Hafner|nolink=1}}<ref name="nyt-1983-10-15" /> |- | rowspan="2" |Before 1976 | |Laurie Bill |- | |Judith Burgess |- |2004 (honorary) | rowspan="5" |– |{{sortname|Caroline|Sanchez-Bernat}}<ref name="nyt-2004-10-26" /> |- |2017 |{{sortname|Lisa|Levy}}<ref name="NYT-2019-10-08" /> |- |2018 |{{sortname|Parker|MacLure}}<ref name="NYT-2019-10-08" /> |- |2019 |{{sortname|Dylan|Greenberg}}<ref name="NYT-2019-10-08" /> |- |2023 |Harmony "Hardcore" Vehling |}

==In popular culture== * 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.<ref name="nym-1976-03-29">{{Cite news |last=Bayen |first=Ann |title=Token Women |magazine=New York Magazine |date=March 29, 1976 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-MCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46 |access-date=October 7, 2011 |via=Google Books}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last=Klein |first=Alvin |title='On the Town' in Revival at Goodspeed Opera |work=The New York Times |date=June 6, 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/06/nyregion/theater-on-the-town-in-revival-at-goodspeed-opera.html |access-date=October 7, 2011}}</ref> * 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."<ref name="nyt-1996-04-03">{{cite news |title=Theater Review; Daddy's Miss Subways |first=Lawrence |last=Van Gelder |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/03/arts/theater-review-daddy-s-miss-subways.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 3, 1996 |access-date=April 22, 2013}}</ref> * 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== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * [http://www.prx.org/pieces/2305 "The Miss Subways Reunion"], WFUV (audio) * [https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/12/29/nyregion/thecity/20071230_MISSSUBWAYS_SLIDESHOW_index.html "Saw You On The E Train"], Fiona Gardner and Amy Zimmer, ''The New York Times'', December 29, 2007 (photo essay)

{{New York City Subway}}

Category:Beauty pageants in the United States Category:New York City Subway Category:1941 establishments in New York City Category:American awards Category:Women in New York City