48 Different “First” Photos Throughout the History of Photography

Beauty pageants have been a thing for a while. This may come as a surprise (or not), but the first American beauty pageant was organized by P.T. Barnum in June 1855. At the time, P.T. Barnum was known for his “national contests” where guests would pay to judge the “best looking” specimens. These contests were held for dogs, flowers, and even babies. 

Barnum figured he would apply the same concept to women. Cool. His original idea of getting women signed up to be publicly judged for their looks didn’t get as many contestants as he anticipated. Plus, there was a huge uproar about the whole thing. As we know, the beauty pageant concept eventually caught on and became a huge part of mid-20th-century American culture.