Monday, January 18, 2016

354. MISS UNIVERSE BEAUTIES IN MANILA: A Souvenir Program--with Autographs!

Eat your heart out, beauty pageant aficionados!
Look what I got? A 1964 souvenir program of the Miss Universe Beauties on Parade show at the Araneta Coliseum! With many photos of teh world beauties...autographed! Yes, 1963 was the year that Miss Philippines reached the finals of Miss Universe--with Lalaine Bennett finishing 4th after Argentinian winner, Norma Nolan. Part of their world tour included a stop in the Philippines, where Miss Universe and her retinue were presented in a lavish spectacle of beauty,music and dance.
The lovely Norma Nolan is the first and only Argentinian beauty to be crowned Miss Universe, and she is featured prominently in the first pages of the magazine. A photo page has her written dedication to a fan, with her autographed name.
Miss Philippines Lalaine Bennett , 3rd Runner Up, also has a page dedicated to her, along with Miss Korea, who placed 5th in the 1963 Miss Universe Pageant. Both have dedications inscribed with their signatures.
Other world beauties include Miss Germany and Miss Denmark--who was also a runner-up in Nolan's court. American state beauties also came over to participate in a rare gathering of feminine pulchritude from the world over. Collecting pageant memorablia has become a big thing in pageant-crazy Philippines, more so with the latest victory of Pia Wurztbach as 2016 Miss Universe,so maybe it's wise to stash those newspapers and magazines proclaiming the news of her victory, as they will be collectibles of the future. As our country's 2nd Miss Universe said--"Being Miss Universe is transitory, but being a Filipina is permanent!".  So hold on to those ephemera, before they fade away!

No comments:

Post a Comment