[Click image to enlarge photo]

Left to Right: Marie Larrieu (1st place); Leah Sorapuru (2nd place); Julia Austin (3rd place)

In their skin tight Jantzen elasticized bathing suits with exposed knees and a tank top which reached down to the hips that integrated with a pair of fitted shorts, these young New Orleans beauties proudly displayed why the 1920s came to be known as the age of the liberated woman. No longer did they wear the dark-colored, baggy, heavy and rather ugly suits of the earlier years. They preferred the form-fitted, light weight, bright and colorful ones. Women were eager to test their beauty against other women and men were eager to watch and judge. Reporters and photographers (as seen above) gave it sensational coverage. This was the beginning of the bathing beauty contest.

Throughout the country, optimism and confidence began to surge at the end of World War I. This was by no means lost on women. They too became confident in themselves as individuals, felt liberated, trendy, and fashion conscious.

They cut off their traditional long hair and replaced it with “the bob”, the new short style which they laced with stylish curls and finger waves. Their hem lines rose and their new short dresses often became sleeveless. As the condition of roads improved and cars were beginning to be used for transportation, shoes rather than boots became more prominent. Shoes were colorful and stockings of silk in various colors were the rage. Hats were fashionable, bags were beaded and jewelry was pearls. If one chose to wear make-up, powder had to be of excellent quality since cheap powder with a metallic substance was known to be dangerous. Those with rice as its base were best to use. It would dust off the skin more easily and was used in more expensive cosmetics. In general, fashions were lighter weight and less restrictive, especially undergarments which made it easier for women to play sports and dance the new dances.

When Jazz musician, Armand J. Piron, opened Piron’s Garden of Joy on August 8, 1927 in the Pythian Temple on Gravier Street, it became the leading center of nightly entertainment for Creole Society in New Orleans. This was the home of bathing beauty contests (as the one above) but also the place to go for high school and college dances, club events, receptions, and parties. It was considered by many to be the coolest place for dancing in the summer-time and the most comfortable in the winter. It’s roof-top location allowed the breezes at night to be fanned in coupled with the many fans conveniently placed throughout the building. In the winter, steam heat protected the patrons from chilling blasts as they danced to the latest hits of the year.

A large advertisement in The Louisiana Weekly on August 6, 1927 with the heading “What Colored New Orleans Has Been Awaiting” featured a publicity shot of Piron’s eleven piece orchestra that would furnish the latest dance hits at all dances.  For only 30 cents you could forget your troubles and spend a night listening to live music and having a great time with family and friends. Fortunately, women were now allowed to do the same.

Source: The Louisiana Weekly, 9 June 1928, page 4.

L.V.C.

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