From 1941 and 1976, dozens of young women and high school girls were bestowed the honor of Miss Subways with her smiling photograph hanging within the cars of the New York subway system.
This was not a beauty pageant, but rather an advertising campaign which promoted the subway and drew the eyes of commuters to the train car's many advertisements for cod liver oil, cigarettes and frozen foods.
The program was overseen by modeling agent guru John Robert Powers whose work for retail catalogs and newspapers would help define the 'girl-next-door' image of the mid 20th century.
However this blonde Midwestern template soon looked out of place promoting the subway system of one of the most diverse cities in the world. By the 1960s, winners of this fleeting title began to reflect the many types of women who commuted and used the subway.
Listen in as Greg tells the story of the Miss Subways pageant then participates as a judge for a brand new Miss Subways competition, held in Coney Island in April. But what does this title mean in 2023?
FEATURING A visit to the New York Transit Museum, the City Reliquary, Coney Island USA's Seashore Theater and Ellen's Stardust Diner
VISIT THE WEBSITE for more information and many photographs
Rewind: The American Museum of Natural History
#338 A New Deal for the Arts: Murals, Music and Theatrical Mayhem
#337 Robert Moses and the Art of the New Deal
Rewind: TESLA -- The Inventor in Old New York
#336 The War on Newspaper Row
#335 Pulitzer vs Hearst: The Rise of Yellow Journalism
Rewind: The Land of the Lenape
#334 Midnight Cowboy (Bowery Boys Movie Club)
Rewind: The Secret Origin of Comic Books
#333 Tearing Down King George: The Monumental Summer of 1776
#332 Welcome to Yorkville: German Life on the Upper East Side
Rewind: Seneca Village and New York's Forgotten Black Communities
#331 The East Side Elevateds: Life Under the Tracks
#330 The Silent Parade of 1917: Black Unity in a Time of Crisis
#329 The First Ambulance: The Humans (and Horses) That Saved New York
#328 Chop Suey City: A History of Chinese Food in New York
#327 Listener Stories: At Home In New York Part Two
#326 Listener Stories: At Home in New York Part One
#325 The Staten Island Quarantine War
#324 Moving Day! Madness and Mayhem in Old New York
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra