Staats-Herold Beauty Queen- Loser

My Oma ordered the German newspapers here in Cincinnati, and read them avidly.  She got the idea to enter me in a Beauty contest.  The Miss German-America Contest, of all things.  I was 21 at the time, and she was gung-ho on this project.  She entered my name, and then had me write a short resume of my "accomplishments", short as I could not have done much by that young age, and sent it in.  What she had not counted on was how that contest was run.  I was the contestant from the Cincinnati area, and the intention was to get out all the Cincinnati German population to "vote" for me by buying and sending in ballots from the paper, whereas the New York contingent would do the same there, the Milwaukee Germans voted from there, the Cleveland Germans voted for their Miss.  Obviously the German group with the largest population, being New York, had us all out voted to begin.  The votes were sent to New York, where the paper was printed and we traveled to New York for the festivities.  There were several events. There was a cotillion, where we would be presented to the upper echelon of society.  There was a photo-op because a beer sponsored the contest, so we all held Biersteins and acted like we liked it!   I was not even that old, and I did not drink.  Then there were the events that celebrated the winners, again in New York.  I was eager to travel, and saved up to go to New York.

I really grew in independence and confidence that year, traveling on my own, and moving through the busy streets of New York with more ease each time I went. Since prices were at least four times as much as in my home state of Ohio, I felt unable to  keep up with the other contestants.  I still enjoyed the events, when I was able to attend, in  my self made black dress that I wore to almost every occasion with slightly different shoes and jewelry, I just made it happen.

Of the seven contestants even if I came in last, I did not feel I was a  Loser.  I had experienced a wonderful time visiting friends and seeing places in New York I would not have had a chance to see, I traveled American Airlines often enough to become quite an accomplished traveler, and I could from then on find my way around any smaller town with ease.

We Introduce Cornelia von Oettingen Sass