The big official prize in the Miss America contest was a $5,000 scholarship to any school of the winner's choosing. But there appeared to be little Ph.D. timber among the 54 entrants (representing 39 states, 14 cities and Canada).
To be sure, the girls had only one chance to display their intellectual attainments. This was on a radio quiz show. "On what river is the U.S. Naval Academy located?" asked the quizmaster. Why, said Miss Utah, on the Mississippi River. Miss Chicago was convinced that Maryland had been named for Queen Elizabeth, and that Napoleon had been crowned Emperor by...
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