New York, NY —
The Miss Subways contests lasted from the 1940s through the 70s but now-and-then some of the winners put on their sashes and get together again. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was at the latest reunion of the former beauty queens, near Times Square.
PHOTOGRAPHER: one, two, three...
WOMEN: Yay!
REPORTER: There were nearly 200 winners of the Miss Subways contest during its entire run, and about 30 of those women are taking a group photo outside Ellen's Stardust Diner. Ellen would be Ellen Hart Sturm, who leads the group inside for lunch and a celebration.
ELLEN: They're a very good looking group of people, and you know, they kept them selves active, and we have many that are in their 80th, couple of them here are in their 80s and 70s and they're very sharp women.
REPORTER: It's true - most of these women don't look their age. Many of them are still blonds, brunettes, and red-heads. Dorothea Mate is one of the few with silver hair - she was Miss Subways in 1942, the second year of the contest.
MATE: I'm the oldest Miss Subways here - I'm 89 years old REPORTER: Tell me... MATE: ...or should I say young?
REPORTER: For some of these women, Miss Subways was the ticket to modeling contracts or TV work on the Perry Como or Jackie Gleason shows. Many of them went on to strong corporate careers. But for Dorothea in the early 1940s, the big prize was a free dieting course.
MATE: Because of Miss Subways I was approached by a company - Richard Hudnut. I was chubby when I was Miss Subways. And I got a course with them and I lost 25 pounds.
REPORTER: At least initially, Miss Subways was more progressive than other beauty contests. In 1948, under pressure from civil rights groups, a black student from Brooklyn College became Miss Subways, and a year later an Asian woman won. Which meant their images were splashed across the subway system. But in 1974, when another black winner, Marcia Kilpatrick won, she had to ask to have her poster darkened.
KILPATRICK: Because when they took the photo I was so light in the photo, there was no trace of color, so I said When you put my last name - Kilpatrick - which is Scottish, under my photo, they're going to say who is that? How are they going to know? I said you gotta darken my poster.
REPORTER :As soon as lunch is done, the entertainment begins. Ellen's Stardust Diner is a themed restaurant, and a couple young hunks serenade the sultry seniors with songs of yesteryear.
Kathryn Keeler was a Miss Subways in 1958, along with her identical twin, Mary, who's since died. They were only 17 when they won, but their subway ads at the time play up the fact that Mary smoked, and Kathryn didn't. Kathryn says the end of Miss Subways in the late 1970s was inevitable, with the arrival of women's lib. And that, she says, is a good thing.
KEELER: Gals that were out there, doing things and fighting things - I gave them a lot of credit. Because they made it a better world for my daughter and my daughter in laws.
REPORTER: But she enjoys Miss Subways for what it was.
KEELER: I mean it was quite innocent and a lot of fun.
For WNYC, I'm Arun Venugopal.
REPORTER: For more, check out the gallery show on Miss Subways at Rush Arts, in Chelsea. It's on through the end of May.