THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL LEVEL " BEAUTY QUEEN " HELD IN BELGIUM AT SPA -5000 FRANCS REWARD ON SEPTEMBER 19,1888

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 

 " BEAUTY QUEEN " HELD IN BELGIUM AT SPA

 -5000 FRANCS REWARD

ON SEPTEMBER 19,1888

It’s impossible to tell exactly when beauty contests or beauty pageants began, but they certainly existed since antiquity. For example, in Troy, in Ellas, on Lesbos Island, in ancient China etc, beauty pageants were a form of entertainment.  Even in the Ottoman Empire, despite strict Islamic morals, rulers entertained themselves with competitions to choose the most gorgeous wife in their harem.

It’s interesting how the perception of beauty have changed over time. Looking at the beauty quins of the past and the women of today I am sure you will agree they aren’t beautiful as todays “modern woman”. What was once considered beautiful and fashionable is now even laughable.

The first modern Europen pageant was held in 1839 in Scotland. The title of  “Queen of Beauty” was awarded  to the 30 year old Jane Georgiana Sheridan (5 November 1809 – 14 December 1884),  wife of Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset and sister of noted author Caroline Norton 

 Marthe Soucaret.

.
The first modern American pageant, involving the display of women’s faces and figures before judges, was staged by Phineas Taylor Barnum  in 1854, but his beauty contest was closed down by public protest.

 Marthe Soucaret.

It was in the 1880s that beauty pageants became more popular and the first “Bathing Beauty Pageant” took place as part of a summer festival to promote business in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware














The first international beauty pageant was held on Sept. 19, 1888 at the Belgian resort of Spa. The title of ‘beauty queen’ was awarded to the 18 year old Creole contestant from Guadeloupe: Marthe Soucaret. She was rewarded with an impressive prize fund of 5,000 francs, as well as the honour of appearing on the cover of French magazine L’Illustration.

According to a reporter of a Scandinavian newspaper highlighting the unusual event, all men wore tuxedos and all women wore long dresses.

All participants had to send a photograph and a short description of themselves to be eligible for entry. There were over 350 applications but the judges selected only 21. The jury consisted only of men. The  contestants were hidden from the wider public in a secluded wing of a private house and closed carriages that took them to and from the main hall. They were judged in person by the jury