Surefire Misses

Never has royalty been so popular in the U.S.

To celebrate National Hat Week, Boston businessmen last week chose a Hat Queen for 1951. In San Francisco, where Miss Pacific Purchaser was already reigning, wine producers crowned a National Vintage Queen. In Dallas, a Macaroni Queen was crowned with a tiara of dry macaroni, and the Texas Rice Promotion Association named a Rice Queen, whose first proclamation from the throne was: "I just love to eat rice, I really do." Others currently receiving the royal treatment: Miss Freight Forwarder of 1951,*

Miss Illinois Cemetery Association, who is "making people cemetery-conscious."

U.S. business has been smitten by hip and thigh. A pretty girl with a title is now considered a surefire method of advertising--even though her picture rarely appears in an ad.

The Florists Telegraph Delivery Association recently spent $6,000 crowning Miss Flowers by Wire of 1951, and thinks that stories and pictures in the press mentioning the association were worth $1,000,000. The coronation cost is usually low, because models or starlets are often willing to contribute their time free for the publicity. One girl has reigned over no less than 73 different products.

Other reigning queens: "The Apple of Our Eye" (the apple industry), "Maid of Cotton," "Miss Alarming" (alarm systems), "Miss Beautyrest" (mattresses), "Girl We'd Most Like to BEE With" (honey), "Girl With the Best Connections" (electric appliances), "Miss Aluminum Stepladder."

No association or businessman is stopped when it comes to naming a queen after a product, no matter how silly the result. When one lemon-juice packing company picked a miss, it hardly thought twice before it bestowed the second-most unflattering title of the year: "Miss Realemon."

*Who rebuffed one eager courtier with: "Who do you think you are--Mr. Forward of 1951?" For the most unflattering, see MISCELLANY.

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