NBC New York reports: It was an ad campaign conceived as eye candy to bring attention to other advertisements in New York's transit system. But the "Meet Miss Subways" beauty contest posters of pretty young New York women and their aspirations quickly evolved into a popular and even groundbreaking fixture that ran for 35 years, from 1941 to 1976.
When photographer Fiona Gardner first learned about it she "immediately wanted to know what happened to all the women."
She set out to find out.
The result is "Meet Miss Subways: New York's Beauty Queens 1941-76," an exhibition at the New York Transit Museum running Oct. 23-March 25, and a companion book of the same name. With journalist Amy Zimmer, Gardner tracked down 146 Miss Subways posters and interviewed 41 winners in person. Together they collaborated on the book, with Gardner taking the women's portraits wearing their Miss Subways sashes at home or at work. Continue reading...
Maureen Walsh Roaldsen poses in 2007 at the appellate court in Brooklyn where she was an attorney. Roaldsen appeared on "Meet Miss Subways" placards in the New York City subways during Feb.–Aug. 1968. She was 23 and working as a secretary at Downstate Medical Center when she won. On weekends, she greeted VIPs and celebrities at the Diamond Club at Shea Stadium. In her 40s she launched a new career as an attorney for the New York State Appellate Court. Full story on NBC New York
