Beauty queens lament end of Miss Australia

By James Grubel

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - They were Australia's most beautiful women, the superstars of their day, but unlike the rest of the world's beauty queens, their pageant and title have now been relegated to a museum.

Started in 1907 as a magazine competition, the Miss Australia quest hit its peak after World War II when the competition combined the search for an ideal Australian beauty with charity work and fundraising.

Over the following four decades, the contest captivated the nation, turning the winners into instant celebrities.

But in 2000, contestants appeared before the judges for the last time, turning on their high heels and fading elegantly into history, victims of sexual equality laws and a more politically correct society.

"There was a whole change in Australian culture which left the Miss Australia looking a bit white bread, a little bit staid, a little bit conservative and out of step with mainstream culture," Sophie Jensen, curator of a new exhibition about Miss Australia at the National Museum in Canberra, told Reuters.

When she won her title in 1947, Judy Gainford was given a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Sydney. She travelled the country, and was then sent on a five-month tour of the world.

When Sheree Primmer was crowned Miss Australia in 2000, her reign lasted only for the night of the competition ball.

The exhibition has grouped for the first time a dozen or so queens who insist Miss Australia wasn't just about beauty.