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Audience for a Beauty Pageant | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society

Photograph

Audience for a Beauty Pageant

Audience for a Beauty Pageant | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society
Formally dressed audience members are watching a beauty pageant in a smoky beer hall. The men are wearing suits with ties; the women are wearing dresses and heels, with the occasional fur stole. The audience is sitting together around long tables, and in a balcony (to the back), facing female contestants (out of frame), who are wearing sashes that represent Wisconsin-wide media outlets and community organizations. The audience is drinking pints of Pabst beer, and some men are smoking cigarettes and cigars. Packets of cigarettes are on several tables. A press photographer in the background has a Graflex camera and attached flashbulb. 

The beer hall, known as the Sternewirt taproom in the Pabst Brewing Company, has characteristic German-style thick wooden architectural elements seen in the columns, wall trim, and paneling. There is also a wall niche displaying beer steins arranged around a decorative plate. Brightly colored frescoes painted by the artist, Edgar Miller, in 1943 chronicle brewing history in panels just below the ceiling, and other figural designs decorate the side walls.
DESCRIPTION
Formally dressed audience members are watching a beauty pageant in a smoky beer hall. The men are wearing suits with ties; the women are wearing dresses and heels, with the occasional fur stole. The audience is sitting together around long tables, and in a balcony (to the back), facing female contestants (out of frame), who are wearing sashes that represent Wisconsin-wide media outlets and community organizations. The audience is drinking pints of Pabst beer, and some men are smoking cigarettes and cigars. Packets of cigarettes are on several tables. A press photographer in the background has a Graflex camera and attached flashbulb. The beer hall, known as the Sternewirt taproom in the Pabst Brewing Company, has characteristic German-style thick wooden architectural elements seen in the columns, wall trim, and paneling. There is also a wall niche displaying beer steins arranged around a decorative plate. Brightly colored frescoes painted by the artist, Edgar Miller, in 1943 chronicle brewing history in panels just below the ceiling, and other figural designs decorate the side walls.
RECORD DETAILS
Image ID:137519
Creation Date:date unknown
Creator Name:Sid Boyum
City:Milwaukee
County:Milwaukee
State:Wisconsin
Collection Name:Sid Boyum collection, circa 1900-2018 (bulk 1950-1980)
Genre:Photograph
Original Format Type:transparency, color
Original Format Number:PH 6986 Box 13 .025.021
Original Dimensions:1.625 x 2 inches
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This picture is one frame of a Kodak 3D stereo slide. It is 4 out of 9 in the sequence. The Kodak stereo mount with red trademark backing was the standard one manufactured until 1957, helping to date the era. There are at least three different pageants in this series. For the contestants of this pageant, see Image ID: 137518; for two from another pageant, see Image IDs: 137512 and 137514.
SUBJECTS
Cigarettes
Breweries
Pageants
Drinking of alcoholic beverages
Smoking
Cameras
Photographers
Furniture
Beauty contests
Chairs
Columns
Fur garments
Audiences
Cigars
Neckties
Suits (Clothing)
Painting
Dresses
Eyeglasses
Decoration and ornament

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RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS
This image is issued by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Collections Division. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please Credit: Friends of Sid Boyum, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Reference Details
Location:Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, 4th Floor, Madison, Wisconsin

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