A snapshot photo dated September 11, 1936, of a passing float in the Miss America Pageant Parade, Atlantic City, New Jersey. On the float, just to the right of center in the photo is Kathryn [Dietrich] Gasbarro (1915-2003) of Specktown, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Each year, in early September, the Miss America Pageant took place with an opening parade and several nights of competition culminating with the crowning of Miss America in the Atlantic City Convention Center (the building behind the float). The parade, which took place on Atlantic City’s famous boardwalk, featured queens from all states, marching bands, comedy acts, and floats sponsored by businesses, many of which were the hosting hotels for the pageant.
The float pictured above was for the Hotel Morton where several Lykens Valley natives worked. As Kathryn later told it, the owner, Ezra Bell, expected all the good looking “lasses” to ride on the hotel float each year. But since she was a part-time employee, the opportunity was offered only once.
A photo post card view of the Hotel Morton, about 1937.
During the late 1930s, so many visitors came from “Pennsylvania Dutch Country,” that Bell had theme weekends where all the staff dressed up in what he considered to be Pennsylvania Dutch costumes. However, the costumes were more representative of the Holland Dutch. The photo below of Kathryn was taken on August 25, 1938.
When Kathryn got married in 1942, Bell gave her as a wedding present a starter set of Fiesta Ware (Homer Laughlin China). Her descendants still have that original set.
The hotel skills that Kathryn learned at the Hotel Morton were later applied to her own business as operator of a guest house in another part of Atlantic City. From the advertisements she placed in the Lykens Standard, Lykens Valley residents continued to flock to the shore filling the guest house every week of the summer.
__________________________________________
Photos from an old photo album belonging to Kathryn [Dietrich] Gasbarro (1915-2003).
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.