Miss Bourne 1949 (and in 1993)

THE AGE OF THE BEAUTY CONTEST

There was a time in the not too distant past when comely young ladies flocked to enter beauty contests, either those organised locally as part of the town festival or carnival or while on holiday at one of the popular seaside resorts, Skegness, Hunstanston and Cleethorpes, or even further afield at Blackpool and Brighton for the more adventurous.

The very first beauty contests were staged in the United States by the showman Phineas T Barnum in 1854 but were closed down by public protest, perhaps a harbinger of what was to come in later years, but the style he set persisted and was fostered by newspapers which held photo beauty contests for many years afterwards. In 1880, the first bathing beauty pageant took place as part of a summer festival at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware and contests soon became a regular feature of summer beach life around the world, the biggest being the Miss World Competition which was founded in 1951.

These harmless competitions to select the most glamorous girl around have been largely abandoned because of pressure from the feminist lobby which condemned them as degrading, particularly those which required contestants to wear swimsuits and high-heeled shoes, and so the popularity of these parades has been consigned to the history books.

All small market towns and villages, and often counties, had a beauty contest in years past and Bourne was no exception, usually staged to coincide with some other event, and in 1949 the girl who had just been chosen as Miss Lincolnshire paid a visit being guest of honour at a dance at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 10th September. She was Kitty Thompson, of Sleaford, who had been given the title only the day before in the competition held at Mablethorpe.

She was welcomed by the chairman of Bourne Urban District Council, Councillor T W Revill, and the treasurer, Mr Eric Trowell, who was accompanied by his wife, Mrs Kathleen Trowell. Also there was Sheila Christian, of Aslackby, who had been crowned that evening as Miss Bourne 1949, and she handed over a bouquet to Miss Lincolnshire. Both beauty queens were attended by their runners-up and the Master of Ceremonies for the event was local businessman Ray Cliffe, later to achieve prominence as a councillor and Mayor of Bourne.

Shelia Christian pictured in 1949 and as she is today but still living at Aslackby, having enjoyed a lifelong career with the Lincolnshire county library service.

More than half a century later, Sheila, now aged 75, is still living in Aslackby, only child of long time villagers, Fred and Ena Christian. In December 2006, after the photograph of her crowning was published by the Stamford Mercury, she remembered the night of her triumph and in particular, how unexpected it all was.

“In those days, I really was a very independent young lady and dancing was my passion", she said. "I had gone to the regular Saturday night dance at the Corn Exchange and the place was packed with people. I had no intention of entering the contest but my friends urged me on and I had no time to be scared. It was all a bit of a whirl and I was most surprised when I won but it was such a night to remember.”

A lavish supper followed the crowning, also attended by glamorous Daphne Pickering, a starlet from the Rank film studios, but there were no cash prizes. “I never received any money for winning and there were no public engagements afterwards”, she recalled. “All I had was the sash and some flowers although I did get to meet a film star. But it was all very exciting and I enjoyed it immensely.”

REVISED AUGUST 2008