is what we would call Miss St. Louis nowadays. Miss Puffsylvania gets my trophy!

Seems like the pageant once again is on, after 77 years absence. Found this

http://www.houstonpress.com/slideshow/view/13011295

The event lasted from 1920 to 1931, when the Morality Police had it shut down for showing too much leg.

Miss Chicago took 1st in 1928 and Miss France took 2nd which obviously means ... Miss Missouri was ROBBED!!! Come on, Miss Missouri had the whole package yet she didn't even finish in the top 10?!!

Results

1 UNITED STATES - Ella Van Hueson (Miss Chicago)
2 FRANCE - Raymonde Allain
3 ITALY - Livia Marracci
4 COLORADO - Mildred Ellene Golden
5 WEST VIRGINIA - Audrey Reilley
6 CANADA - Irene Hill
7 LUXEMBOURG - Anna Friedrich
8 OHIO - Mary Horlocker
9 SAN ANTONIO (TX) - Anna Debrow
10 TULSA (OK) - Helen Paris

Contestants

Foreign
BELGIUM - Anne Koyaert
CANADA - Irene Hill
CUBA - Nila Garrido
ENGLAND - Nonni Shields
FRANCE - Raymonde Allain
GERMANY - Hella Hoffman
ITALY - Livia Marracci
LUXEMBOURG - Anna Friedrich
MEXICO - Maria Teresa de Landa
SPAIN - Agueda Adorna

USA states or regions
CALIFORNIA - Geraldine Grimsley
COLORADO - Mildred Golden
CONNECTICUT - Mary Deano
INDIANA - Betty Dumpres
IOWA - Ethel Mae Frette
KENTUCKY - Vergie H. Hendricks
LOUISIANA - Evelyn Smith
MINNESOTA - Delores Davitt
MISSISSIPPI - Louise Fayard
MISSOURI - Margaret Woods
NEBRASKA - Bernice Graf
NEW JERSEY - Elizabeth K. Smith
NEW YORK STATE - Winnifred Watson
OHIO - Mary Horlocker
PENNSYLVANIA - Anna Dubin
UTAH - Eldora Pence
WEST VIRGINIA - Audrey Reilley
WISCONSIN - Betty Porter

USA cities
AUSTIN (TX) - Irene Wilson
BILOXI (MS) - Fleeta Doyle
CHICAGO (IL) - Ella Van Hueson
DALLAS (TX) - Hazel Peck
FORT WORTH (TX) - Cleo Belle Marshall
GREATER NEW YORK (NY) - Isabel Waldner
HOUSTON (TX) - Katherine Miller
LITTLE ROCK (AR) - Frances McCroskey
MILWAUKEE (WI)
NEW ORLEANS (LA) - Georgia Payne
OKLAHOMA CITY (OK) - Mary Kate Drew
SAN ANTONIO (TX) - Anna Debrow
ST. LOUIS (MO) - Eunice Gerling
TULSA (OK) - Helen Paris

http://www.pageantopolis.com/international/universe_1920.htm

Now you've got some names to go with the faces.

[What was at stake was no less than the title of Miss Universe. Controversy erupted when Miss France, Raymonde Allain, came in second to an American girl. - Dave]

Raymonde Allain, Miss France 1927, became an actress -- the Internet Movie Database lists her as appearing in 10 films and (in 1974) a television show. She also wrote a book in 1933, "Histoire vraie d'un prix de beaute?" ("True story of a price for beauty"). She married the pianist and composer Alec Siniavine, who composed a love song for her during the Nazi occupation, "Attends moi mon amour." Siniavine also played in a quartet with Django Reinhardt in 1934.

[Miss Allain to the New York Times in 1928: "It is certainly great to be beautiful." - Dave]

Miss Chicago. hubba...

She's quite alluring, but does need to work on her posture.

Honorable mentions to Miss San Antonio (very cute), Miss Belgium (best smile), and Miss NY State (quite sexy even by 2009 standards).

And I agree, Nebraska's totally putting the moves on Wisconsin. But so would I. Pennsylvania and Ohio must be roommates. Yeah, that's it. Roommates.

Take a close look at Miss Pennsylvania. She's showing off some ummmmm talents. Not too shabby. And she is the only one with those. But it seems she and Miss Ohio are wanting to trip the light fantastic. So she's likely spoken for, unless a threesome would work. I have to agree, Miss California looks like a good candidate. Also check Miss Colorado, pretty cute looking although zero to concave up topside.

But clearly this whole contest is rigged, considering Miss St. Louis and Miss France. Holy cow! Either one would be worth chewing your arm off if you woke up next to them with it stuck underneath. They must have done multiple special couch sessions with a bag over their head and paid a bunch of cash just to get into this line up. What on Miss Spain's forehead? Is that the reset button?

I think Miss Ohio cornered the Amish vote. Miss Utah is one cute little Mormon pixie, working her flirt something fierce- that girl you could paste into a modern photo and nobody would think twice about it.

It's funny how wildly different they all look- a modern contest the girls would all look more or less the same. This photo is a crazy assortment of beauties & cuties, geek girls, dorks, farm girls, prom queens, and linebackers. Awesome!

See the trends move fast near the end of the decade. Some areas chose slimmer gals that appear to better fit the Flapper styles of the times. Many men of the day would see Miss Austin as being horribly sickly, but today she would have the attributes of a runway model! And yes, Miss CA is absolutely adorable, and the St. Louis pageant must have had very few contestants.

I swear Miss Greater New York is winking. Fabulous.

Miss California gets my vote, she's looks like alot of fun! Miss Utah has the best legs, and Miss St. Louis is Howard Stern in a bathing suit.

So they stuck the out-of-town contestants on the beach for the group photo, while the oglers watch from the seawall?

Those Galvestonians learned something from that hurricane!

...I was thinking the same about that bloke dressed up as Miss St Louis...

All the way ! A beauty any man could fall in love with.

What's the problem with her? Look at her smile...

Miss France and her predecessor. Different hats, but that nose ... eerie, huh?

Objectifying women across the centuries!

Miss Mississippi is fine...

But look at her body. It's all about the body.

I like how we range from Miss Biloxi to Miss England. I'm surprised we didn't have Miss 22nd Street and Miss Asia, too.

By the way, I know standards of beauty have changed, and the women in pageants today are not necessarily more or less attractive, but Miss St. Louis was a beast. I'm sorry, there had to be some corruption in that contest.

Shouldn't that be "Mr. France". Oofah!

Congratulations to Miss St. Louis, 42nd runner-up.

I think I'm in love with the clad-in-black Miss New Jersey.

Meanwhile Miss Nebraska is expressing the love whose name cannot be spoken for Miss Wisconsin.