Miss Subways

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Miss Subways was a title accorded to individual New York City women between 1941 and 1976. The woman who was "Miss Subways" at any one time appeared on posters placed on New York City Subway trains, along with a brief description of her. The program was run by the ad agency "New York Subways Advertising". To be eligible, a woman had to be a New York City resident and herself use the subway. Winners were usually chosen by telephone-based voting, from among a group of contenders whose photos were all placed on the subways; the nominees were chosen by John Robert Powers, a modelling agent.

Around 200 women held the title during the program's run. The first Miss Subways was actress Mona Freeman; the last was Heidi Hafner.

The first African American Miss Subways was in 1947; the first Asian American Miss Subways was in 1949.

Ellen Hart Sturm, owner of the New York diner Ellen's Stardust Diner, was Miss Subways in 1959; her diner currently features photos of many past Miss Subways on the walls.

In 2004, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, in conjunction with the New York Post, brought back the program, though now named "Ms. Subways", for one year only. A voting contest was held to determine the winner, Caroline Sanchez-Bernat. Posters of "Ms. Subways" appeared with subway safety tips instead of biographical notes.

[edit] Cultural references

  • In the musical On the Town, one of the main characters falls in love with "Miss Turnstiles" after seeing her picture on the subway.
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry collection A Coney Island of the Mind contains a poem entitled "Meet Miss Subways."

[edit] External links