The Miss Teenage America Pageant was a United States beauty pageant started in 1961 as a pageant for high school girls. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was usually broadcast on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

network around November each year.Terrace, Vincent
Television Specials
p. 259 (2013) The pageant was sponsored by

Dr. Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Europe ...

. The original pageant ended after 1979, and the name rights were sold to ''

Teen Magazine Teen magazines are magazines aimed at teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts. The teen magazine industry is ...

'', which transformed the event into a mail-in contest which evaluated grades and volunteer work. The event ended after the 1998 Miss Teenage America was crowned, and ''Teen Magazine'' itself ceased operations in 2009.

History

From 1961–1967

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

hosted the national pageant, and it moved to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

from 1968–1973. Afterwards, different cities throughout the United States hosted the national pageant. Unlike today's

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Mis ...

and

Miss America's Outstanding Teen Miss America's Outstanding Teen is an American scholarship pageant. It is the sister program to the Miss America Organization, and it aims to "promote scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for ...

, the pageant featured girls representing cities and not states. The contestants aged between 13 and 17. There was also a talent segment. The organizers experimented with the finalist formats until 1967, when it was fixed at eight finalists and then the top four. Finalists were always announced the night before the finals. Winners received a four-year college scholarship, a car from Chrysler or Dodge, cash, a personal appearance contract, as well as Dr. Pepper and American Airline stock. A 1976 book attributed to

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

Erma Bombeck Erma Louise Bombeck (''née'' Fiste; February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. She also published 15 b ...

and Judith Houghton was titled "Miss Teenage America Tells How to Make Good Things Happen." The proceeds went into a scholarship fund for contestants. The organization also printed and sold punch out paper doll sets featuring the reigning queen. Hosts over the years included

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

Betty White Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work in the entertainment indust ...

Allen Ludden Allen Ellsworth Ludden (born Allen Packard Ellsworth; October 5, 1917 – June 9, 1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and game show host. He hosted various incarnations of the game show ''Password'' between 1 ...

Bob Barker Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's ''The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American televis ...

, and

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...

. In 1975,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

broadcast it.

hosted in 1976. Other notable hosts include

Bud Collyer Bud Collyer (born Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr., June 18, 1908 – September 8, 1969) was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for ...

and John Davidson, and Richard Thomas. On February 15, 1979 the event was held at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

House in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

with

Anson Williams Anson Williams (born Anson William Heimlich, September 25, 1949, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, singer, and director, best known for his role as gullible, well-intentioned singer Warren "Potsie" Weber on the television series ...

hosting. The pageant organization began to disintegrate in 1979. Instead of being televised nationally on a single network, the 1979 show was sold through syndication, playing on 64 different stations on 13 different nights, leaving little suspense as to who was going to win. Dr. Pepper suspended local contests in the hopes of getting a new national network deal, which did not occur.(6 July 1980)
Beauty pageant future uncertain
''Huron Daily Plainsman'' (Associated Press) Dr. Pepper sold the pageant rights to ''

'' in 1981, who completely transformed the event into a mail-in contest which evaluated grades and volunteer work.Bitch magazine
("1981: 'Teen magazine purchases the Miss Teenage America Pageant and turns it into a mail-in contest based on grades and volunteer work.") The event ended after the 1998 Miss Teenage America was crowned, and ''Teen Magazine'' itself ceased operations in 2009. The unassociated

pageant was essentially a TV replacement for Miss Teenage America, and first held in 1983.

Original pageant

*Miss Teenage America 1962 - Diane Lynne Cox (Richmond, VA) *Miss Teenage America 1963 - Darla Banks (Fresno, CA) *Miss Teenage America 1964 - Judy Doll (Akron, OH)* *Miss Teenage America 1965 - Carolyn Mignini (Baltimore, MD) *Miss Teenage America 1966 - Colette Daiute (New York City, NY) *Miss Teenage America 1967 - Sandy Roberts (Milpitas, CA) *Miss Teenage America 1968 - Stephanie Ann Crane (St. Louis, MO) *Miss Teenage America 1969 - Melissa Babish (Pittsburgh, PA) *Miss Teenage America 1970 - Debbie Patton (Odessa, TX) *Miss Teenage America 1971 - Rewa Walsh (Magnolia High School, Anaheim, CA) *Miss Teenage America 1972 - Mary Colleen Fitzpatrick (Lancaster High School, Lancaster, OH) *Miss Teenage America 1973 - Melissa Marie Galbraith *Miss Teenage America 1974 -

Lori Matsukawa Lori Matsukawa (born 1956) is an American television news journalist who spent thirty-six years as evening news anchor at KING 5, the NBC News, NBC affiliate in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. She has won two Emmys and numerous honors from regiona ...

(Honolulu, HI) *Miss Teenage America 1975 - Karen Peterson (Toledo, OH) *Miss Teenage America 1976 - Cathy Durden (Honolulu, HI) *Miss Teenage America 1977 - Becky Reid (Dallas, TX) *Miss Teenage America 1978 - Leslie Griffiths (Anchorage, AK) *Miss Teenage America 1979 - Lori Heeren (Sioux City, IA)Hayworth, Bret (29 May 2004)
Former Akron woman recalls being final Miss Teenage America
''Sioux City Journal''

Teen Magazine

*Miss Teenage America 1983 - Amy Sue Brenkacz (Chicago, IL)Hanauer, Joan (23 April 1983)
Miss Teen America
UPI *Miss Teenage America 1984 - Laura Baxter (Danville, CA)(15 January 1984)
Laura Baxter, a 17-year-old cheerleader who wants a career
UPI *Miss Teenage America 1985 - Janice Payne (Charleston, SC)(9 December 1984)
Princess of Flowers runner-up in Miss Teen-Age America
''Index-Journal'' *Miss Teenage America 1986 - Lisa Morgan (Chicago, IL) (later was

Miss Illinois USA The Miss Illinois USA pageant is a competition that selects the representative for the state Illinois in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Vanbros and Associates and is previously directed by D&D Productions from 2001 to 2014 before bec ...

1991).Zorn, Erc (12 February 1986)
Miss Teen America Is All Smiles Even When Boredom Snowballs
''Chicago Tribune''Hoekstra, Dave (6 March 1986)

''Chicago Sun-Times''Purdom, Candace (21 April 1991)
C-h-e-e-r-s
''Chicago Tribune'' *Miss Teenage America 1987 - Karen Johanson (Palo Alto, CA)(27 February 1987)
Miss Teenage America for 1988 being sought
''Monessen Valley Independent'' *Miss Teenage America 1988 - Diane Dovell (Columbus, OH) (27 January 1988)
Miss Teenage America Content Accents Skills, Scholarship
''The Tribune'' *Miss Teenage America 1989 - Cathy Bliss *Miss Teenage America 1990 - Jennifer Kissick (Carlsbad, CA)(8 November 1989)
California Teen-ager Chosen Miss Teenage America
Associated Press *Miss Teenage America 1991 - Elizabeth Nuckles (Fletchers Ridge, VA) *Miss Teenage America 1992 - Samantha Zogg (San Diego, CA)
''Teen'' (1992) *Miss Teenage America 1993 - Mary Nguyen (Fullerton, CA)Le Phuong (21 February 1993)
Teen Pageant Winner Is as Asian-American as Apple Pie
''Los Angeles Times'' *Miss Teenage America 1994 - Elizabeth Andre (Ames, Iowa) *Miss Teenage America 1996 - Katie Beam (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma)(29 March 1996)
Oklahoma 17-Year-Old Picked 35th Miss Teenage America
''Associated Press''Beyette, Beverly (15 April 1996)
Teenage Wisdom
''Los Angeles Times''Higgins, Stephanie (3 November 1999)

''Tulsa World'' *Miss Teenage America 1997 - Brooke Allen (Wichita, KS) (7 April 1997)
Good Girls' Do
''New York Magazine''(26 March 1997)
Kansas student is Miss Teenage America
''Salina Journal'' *Miss Teenage America 1998 - Megan Weber (Zanesville, OH)Smith, Liz (19 March 1998)
Peopletalk
''Philadelphia Inquirer'' ''Miss Teenage America 1964, Judy Doll, gave up her crown on May 19, 1964, to get married on May 31, 1964, to George Wolfe, a junior at Central Michigan University. The first runner-up, Jeanine Zavrel of Washington, DC, was awarded the title.''

Former contestants

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

( ''Moonlighting'') Miss Teenage Memphis, TN, 1966 Miss Teenage America congeniality award *

Karen Valentine Karen Valentine (born May 25, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as young idealistic schoolteacher Alice Johnson in the ABC comedy drama series ''Room 222'' from 1969 to 1974, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award f ...

(''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) fo ...

'') Miss Teenage Santa Rosa, CA, 1963 Miss Teenage America talent award * Taylor Marsh (Radio Talk Show Host) *

Paula Zahn Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series ''On the Case with Paula Zahn'' ...

(Newscaster) 1973 Miss Teenage Aurora, IL * Jayne Modean (1970's teen model) Miss Teenage Clifton, NJ, 1974 Miss Teenage America Poise and Appearance award, $500 ($ today) scholarship. * Constance Ramos, ('' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'',

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...

's ''Color Correction'') 1979 Miss Teenage Kansas City

References

{{Reflist, 30em It is very likely that Traci Reed, Miss Teenage Los Angeles was the first African American to compete in a nationally televised beauty pageant in fall of 1966, She was also one of the seven finalists and later had a starring role in one of the first TV sitcom about a black couple. Donna Taylor Gann, Miss Teenage Lexington, Ky. 1966. Teen America 1961 establishments in Texas American awards Beauty pageants for youth Adolescence in the United States