Presenters
Abstract
Billed as “America’s Second Largest Election,” Liebman Brewery, maker of Rheingold beer, ran the Miss Rheingold competition from 1943 and 1964.This promotional beauty contest followed the post-prohibition trend of enshrining a wholesome woman as the sober purveyor of beer. Miss Rheingold in all of her iterations became emblematic of All-American femininity. This, of course, meant they were all white. Despite the whiteness of the mainstream campaign, Despite the racial homogeneity of their main spokeswomen, women participated in the early rounds of the competition. Liebman Brewery developed a deep relationship with the black community acting as a regional sponsor for the Nat King Cole Show and using black celebrities including Dorothy Dandridge, Sarah Vaughn, and Claudia McNeil in its advertising. The white Miss Rheingold campaign took place in mainstream national media. While some black celebrities were featured in mainstream publications, much of this community-targeted advertising appeared in more regional, ephemeral places. This paper explores the way Liebman’s advertising depicts black femininity in contrast to the way it depicts white femininity.