The competition for the Miss City of Kingston was filled with entertainment and excitement. Family and friends were invested in their favourites from the beginning of the show. The crowd favourite, Vinette Alexander, walked away with several prizes.

Published Monday, December 19, 1955

VINETTE ALEXANDER CROWNED ‘MISS CITY OF KINGSTON’

-In glittering ceremony at Mayor’s ‘300’ Ball

VINETTE Alexander, a lovely laughing eyes, on Saturday night at the Myrtle Bank Hotel won the coveted tercentenary honour of riding the mayor’s float in the National Float Parade.

Selection of the 18-year-old office secretary as 'Miss City of Kingston' won the popular approval of the 1,000 guests at the Mayor’s Ball, who in their own minds, had already conceded the title to Miss Alexander. Her warm vitality and charming personality appealed to everyone during the parade of the 12 Cinema Queens for the surveillance of the 10 judges.

Miss Alexander, who entered the final phase of the contest as 'Miss Tropical' as a result of her selection, won the mayor’s prize of 150 guineas.

This cheque was presented to her by His Worship the Mayor Councillor George McFarlane. Gladys Picton had robed the 'queen' in the scarlet velvet cloak and McFarlane himself had placed the crown of gold on her.

She was also offered a two-week trip to England, together with £50 for incidental expenses by the Philip Seaga Travel Service, £200 by the Tropical Cinema Company, and she was given a cheque from the Consular Corps in Jamaica, Senor Martin Carazo, the dean of the corps, made this presentation.

Runners-up in the contest were Pauline Dolphy ('Miss Ritz') and Carole Kalphat ('Miss Globe') both of whom were quite popular with the audience.

The contest got underway shortly after 10:30 p.m. when the 10 judges, having taken up their respective positions, Morris Cargill, the brilliant and witty master of ceremonies, informed the audience that they were about to indulge in the very “educative pastime” of selecting a 'Miss City of Kingston'.

Fanfare

Then followed a fanfare of trumpets and 'Miss Ambassador' was the first contestant to emerge from the giant jewel box which glittered against the backdrop of velvet in colours of burnt orange and royal blue.

With the spotlight focused on her, she was helped out of the box and down the steps by Assistant Superintendent Owen Stephenson. Then on her own, she paraded up, down and across the giant T-shaped stage, to the accompaniment of popular tunes played by Mapletoft Poulle and his orchestra, and the applause, restrained but nonetheless forceful, of all the guests.

The parade over, she disappeared behind the velvet curtains to be followed by 'Miss Carib'.

And so the procedure continued in alphabetical order to 'Miss Ward'.

The girls paraded individually a second time so that all could see once more, not only the pretty girls, but the attractive dresses which they all wore.

After this, they were all seen together and then the judges were given three-quarters of an hour to make up their minds.

The guests, headed by His Excellency the Governor and Lady Foote, the chief minister and Mrs Norman Manley, spent those 45 minutes, which seemed twice as long, in the Colonial Ballroom of the Myrtle Bank, dancing to the music of Sonny Bradshaw and his orchestra.

Those were, however, minutes of anxiety not only for the 12 cinema 'queens' but for their friends and supporters who, having arrived at their decision before the parade was over, wondered at this prolonged deliberation of the judges.

Nine judges re-appeared round the stage, the missing one was summoned over the microphone and the judges list was handed to the master of ceremonies. A breathless silence and then the moment for which everyone had waited ever since the tercentenary celebrations had been announced.

The robing

The pretty girl, wearing a dress of strawberry pink nylon over taffeta with a ruched M-skirt, was radiant when she came on the stage. She was followed by two pages, Michael and Horace Bridgemahon, identical twins dressed in 'boy blue' suits of satin and lace. They bore the sceptre and crown and kneeled behind the queen during the robbing ceremony.

After she had been robed by Mrs Picton and crowned by Mr McFarlane, Senor J. Martin Carazo pinned on her a corsage of orchids. Corsages were also given to the runners-up and other contestants.

The 'queen' moved to her throne chair followed by Miss Dolphy and Miss Kalphat - to the applause of the entire audience who were well pleased with the results.

The final phase of this beautiful scene was reached when the mayor escorted Miss Alexander to the ballroom while the orchestra to the left of the stage played that tune which was specially composed for the Carib Cinema at its opening and which has remained its signature tune – The Carib Waltz. The tune was taken up by the orchestra in the ballroom, as the mayor and Miss Alexander danced gracefully around the floor.

Miss Dolphy was escorted by Assistant Superintendent Stephenson, Miss Kalphat by Mr Sam Levy, and the other contestants by the other judges, for the special dance of the queens.

Thereafter, the dancing continued.

Judges

The 10 judges were Major David Smith, Messrs Abe Issa, Lee Gore, Lee Gordon, Winston Meeks, Robert C. Lightbourne, Hubert Tai Ten Quee, Russel LeWars, Sam Levy and Abdul Ganai.

Herbert MacDonald, OBE, was the very efficient chairman of the Ball Committee.

Scrutineers for the judging were the Hon J. Leslie Cundall, Sir George Seymour and Sir Robert Barker.

For the benefit of those who were unable to attend the ball, 'Miss City of Kingston' and the other cinema queens will be presented at the Carib Cinema tomorrow afternoon at 3.15 o’clock. This is indeed a wonderful opportunity to see the girl who will be represented in Jamaica’s history as the first 'Miss City of Kingston'.

The Mayor’s Ball was a great success, which is tribute enough to the many hours of tireless effort that went into its planning and execution.

For feedback: contact the Editorial Department at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com.