Dubbed the "Pageant of Pulchritude" by C.E. Barfield, the Galveston beauty contest began in the summer of 1920 and from then on marked the kick-off for tourist season each year. By 1928, the event (which had morphed into the "bathing girl revue") had become so popular, the Island's population was said to have tripled during the event weekend. These Island pageants are said to have been the beginning of what we know today as the Miss America Contest. The famed Galveston Bathing Beauties pageants ended in 1932 due in part to the Great Depression.

Islander By Choice (IBC) resurrected the Beach Revue Pageant in 2009 and 2010. Located on Galveston’s historic shoreline, IBC has renewed this Island original with a contemporary and vintage-inspired swimwear competition, the Bathing Beauties Contest in addition to other events. Bathing Beauties are required to be over 18 years of age to enter and cash prizes are offered to the winning contestants of each category. (IBC retains exclusive rights to produce and sell the official event merchandise and apparel as well as event and individual photos).

ABOUT ISLANDER BY CHOICE

If you've ever visited Galveston Island, you've felt the magnetic crawl that keeps you coming back. It is a unique place that breeds attitude and eccentricity from its historic homes and downtown to the Seawall and its colorful characters. An island in every sense of the word, Galveston has survived and re-imagined herself time and again through the passion and ingenuity and sometimes delusion of its residents.

Capitalizing on a kooky sense of wit and wisdom and some forgotten facts, IBC promotes Galveston pride and a truer spirit of the Island. What began as local friends joking in a shop one summer launched into an Island business promoting local Island-inspired apparel and the resurrection of some of the best family-oriented events that made this Island legendary. For more information on IBC's around the Island, please visit www.ibcgalveston.com. Adrienne and Michael Culpepper, Lauren and Kevin Scott, and Will Wright joined together to start the Galveston business which was launched on the 4th of July, 2008.

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