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Okay. I must admit: I've always wanted to do that. As I suspected, however, having a confident stride wasn't a principal factor. In fact, it was worth only half as much as: 2. Figure proportions (20 points). We have defined this category as the relationship of the feet, ankles, legs, hips, waist, bust, and shoulders. “I was a judge for one year — 1941 — the best job I ever had!” Arthur Nielsen, Jr., chair emeritus of the ACNielsen television-rating company told me. “We were to supply two things: a photo of the girl and a complete and accurate measurement of her figure. I took the photographs and helped with the measurement task — they were dressed in bathing suits. We did the initial judging for Earl Carroll, who had a musical show on Broadway that boasted the ‘most beautiful women in the world.' He was happy to be a judge, and he took it very seriously.” Nielsen's recollections almost made me forget the sword arch — until I heard from Barbara Morey Shade '41, one of the contestants the year Nielsen was a judge. “No way did I wear a swimsuit!” she reassured me. “We all wore black dresses. Mine was off the shoulders, and a friend sent me an orchid to wear. It seemed everyone was sponsored by a sorority. Mine was Pi Beta Phi. The contest was sort of like sororities in general: wonderful for the ones who made it, but a heartache for the ones who didn't.” Number three, where I, personally, would have assigned more points, brought me back to the low scorers:
It felt good to hear 1955 Badger Beauty Nannita Ruggles Stahl also deny Nielsen's report — from over a decade later. “This was not a ‘bathing beauty' competition. We were selected after a series of interviews by various people, including professors and student leaders. Then we became representatives of the University of Wisconsin, campus groups, dorms, and sororities. We had and needed many other characteristics than appearance.” Maybe — but the big points were really made with: 4. Facial balance (40 points). When considering this category, we suggest that you look at the following features: eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears — and see if the total adds up to a beautiful face, a face that will be remembered and envied by others. “With long, straight hair that hung just below their shoulders, these young women were everything I wasn't,” writes Barbara Joan Bass Grubman '54, a student who remembers seeing Badger Beauties on campus in the early 1950s. “Midwestern and beautiful, their striking smiles and straight, white teeth were attributes I did not have, nor could ever hope to strive for. True, the braces I wore up until leaving for college did help to make my prominent under bite quite presentable, yet it was light-years away from their dazzling smiles. A freckled-face, frizzled-hair brunette from the city streets of the Bronx, New York, stood not a chance of standing among the six beauties who were chosen every year on the UW-Madison campus.” Uh-huh. I knew it. Back to square one. 5. Personal appearance (15 points). Look at the girls' hair, clothes, and makeup — see if they have done the most they could to enhance their natural beauty. “What did being a Badger Beauty do for me?” asks Suzanne Holly Bachman '62. “It gave me confidence, improved my public speaking ability, and made my junior year one of the most memorable years of my life. But perhaps more importantly, it put ‘appearance' in perspective. While no one has ever denied its importance, it is what a person does, how hard she works, and what she contributes to her family, community, and society that defines a life.” According to Jane Brandley '57, using her “appearance” at Badger Beauty appearances had a good and bad side. “I was very shy and quiet in those days and pretty much
did what I was told. I remember being very upset to find myself
in my formal adorning a car dealership. Pretty much soured me on
the beauty pageant concept. The ball was fun, and the attention
was fun. The sorority pushed me forward for other things that revolved
around looks — such frivolity seems out of place in today's
world. All of life's experiences have made me a I'll concede a point. And while I hate to admit it, I almost like point six:
Says 1941 Badger Beauty Jane Eriksen Dryburgh, “The dean of women was very determined that this should not be just a beauty contest. All candidates were to have three-point averages or higher and be involved in extra-curricular activities. She interviewed us individually in her office to make sure we met her standards.” “What I most remember is the interview we all had to go through before the last cut,” recalls Barbara Becker Glass '52. “I talked about my employment as a counselor and sailing instructor at a summer camp on Lake Nagawicka. Somehow I think that subject as well as the dress I chose for one of the sessions — a slinky, gray-blue satin, borrowed by actress Gena Rowlands for her Badger Beauty picture in the 1950 Badger — was key to my being chosen.” So, again, it comes down to a dress? Makes me wonder if the judges meant integrity or cloth when they asked: 7. Is this girl Badger Beauty material? This will not be scored, but will be used to help break ties. “I was a contestant in 1952 or 1953,” says Bonita Stein Kammer '53, LLB'55. “I lived in one of the unofficial Jewish girls' houses that were privately owned [Norris Hall]. I remember walking to the Union in my heels and dress: a tight-fitting, red top, with a black skirt with hip pockets. I made it to the second-round finals. “My dad came from Poland and my mother from Russia. They met in Milwaukee in their late teens. There was little opportunity for school in my parents' generation. My dad went to school until he was twelve. As a Jewish girl in Russia, my mother wasn't allowed to go; she would look in the window of the grade school and try to learn things. People would throw stones at her to chase her away. Education was like forbidden fruit for my mother and father. My college experience was so different. To me, being in the Badger Beauty contest meant I was part of Americana, and that was amazing to me! It was a new adventure. I had a ball at the UW. I can't begin to express it.” Now this is sounding more like my university. Kammer certainly had the “material” or “right stuff” — in bushels. Jane Dryburgh says her cohort had it, too. “We all looked to the future with both hope and apprehension due to the growing war in Europe,” she says. “Six months after I graduated in June, Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II. Some of our Badger Beauties group became WAVES and WACS, and one joined the Marines' Woman's Auxiliary.” It was Grubman who got to the crux of the matter for me. “I often wonder if being a Badger Beauty opened any magical doors for these women. Did it allow them to lead happier, more fulfilled lives? Did they look in the mirror and see their beauty like I saw my lack of it? Would my life have been changed in any way had I been one of them?” Pamela Lynch McDonald says yes. “When I graduated from the School of Journalism in 1957, it was a very competitive job market for advertising copywriters in Chicago,” she says. “Despite that fact, I received calls granting me an interview from every advertising agency to which I had submitted my resume. The first thing each interviewer said was, ‘I always wanted to meet a Badger Beauty.' I realized that opened the door and allowed me to make important contacts.” But Jean Durgin Harlan '45 replies with an emphatic no. “I wonder whether we were particularly determined, during the early stages of World War II, to blot out that painful reality as we planned our small-minded activities,” she muses. “For whatever reason, many of us focused energy on the usual campus rivalries among dorms, sororities, and other residence units, jockeying for social prominence. The Badger Beauty phenomenon was a component of that lightly veiled, ongoing competition. “No, this was not one of life's peak experiences for me. It probably helped me get into student government subsequently, but it certainly had no direct bearing on my later life in the grownup world.” Even Virginia Duncan agrees. “There wasn't anything really important about being a Badger Beauty. You didn't have to do anything worthwhile,” she says. “All in all, it was pretty superficial, and later generations of women would look for more ‘relevant' achievements. But for a little girl from a small town in western New York state — a girl who was still trying to discover who she was and what she was hoping to achieve — it was a ‘moment in time' that contributed to her confidence and belief in herself. The gawky, self-conscious teenager had perched on top of the university president's grand piano, to be photographed as a glamorous young woman ... all in a borrowed dress! “But, oh, to be able to just one more time sweep magnificently down that grand stairway into Great Hall.” As it turns out, that I can believe. Candice Gaukel Andrews, an On Wisconsin writer, rates herself a 98.6 (37 centigrade). 1, 2 |
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Fall 2003 Features
Alumni News Regulars
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