{"id":1997,"date":"2013-03-04T11:01:07","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T11:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1997"},"modified":"2014-12-24T14:06:31","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:06:31","slug":"beauty-queen-henrietta-leaver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/04\/beauty-queen-henrietta-leaver\/","title":{"rendered":"Beauty queen Henrietta Leaver"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Gwen <\/a>
Gwen Wakeling, a 20th Century-Fox designer, awards a silver trophy to Leaver, who was crowned “Miss Model America of 1936.” (ACME photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Henrietta <\/a>
Henrietta Leaver wears her Miss America Crown on the New Jersey boardwalk in Atlantic City in 1935. (Photo by Fred Hess, Central Studios, Fred Hess, Atlantic City, N.J.) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Local <\/a>
Local coverage of Leaver in Atlantic City. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Pennsylvania has sent many candidates to the Miss America Pageant, but only one woman ever claimed the crown. That was 19-year-old Henrietta Leaver, Miss America of 1935.<\/p>\n

\n

Before her momentous trip to New Jersey, Ms. Leaver was living in McKeesport and working at G.C. Murphy\u2019s, where she sold cold cream, rouge and lipstick. She claimed the title of Miss Pittsburgh while wearing a borrowed one-piece bathing suit that was black with white polka dots.<\/p>\n

Standing 5 feet 6\u00a01\/2 inches tall, Ms. Leaver weighed 120 pounds. She also possessed a winsome smile, light brown hair, curly eyelashes, blue eyes, shapely legs and a 23-inch waist. It didn\u2019t hurt that she resembled Loretta Young, a popular movie star of the era. Her abilities included cooking, sewing, tap dancing and swimming. Her birth date was March 28, 1916.<\/p>\n

After becoming Miss America, she embarked on a national tour of theaters. During her reign, Pittsburgh sculptor Frank Vittor unveiled a life-size figure of he called \u201cAmerican Venus.\u201d She posed twice for the sculptor while wearing a bathing suit; her grandmother, Ms. Hettie Ebbert, was present on both occasions. Imagine the young lady\u2019s shock when she learned the sculpture would show her nude.<\/p>\n

Fearing that people would form the wrong impression, the beauty queen threatened court action and insisted that the artist cover the statue. Mr. Vittor demurred. She later withdrew her objections after a jury of seven local artists, including architect Henry Hornbostel, decided the piece was a work of art. Drapery, the jury ruled, would spoil the figure and a bathing suit would make it look like an ad for a swimming pool.<\/p>\n

A year later, in 1936, she competed in Hollywood, Calif., for the title of \u201cmost beautiful model\u201d title and won again. The prize was a contract with 20th Century Fox. That year, she married John Mustacchio, the son of a McKeesport restaurant owner. The couple moved to Dravosburg and had a daughter, Patricia Lee.<\/p>\n

Ms. Mustacchio sued for divorce in 1943 and a judge granted her request in 1944. She later remarried. In 1993, at age 77, she died of cancer in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Here at The Digs, we wonder whatever became of that \u201cAmerican Venus\u201d statue? We would love to see it displayed prominently in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania has sent many candidates to the Miss America Pageant, but only one woman ever claimed the crown.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesBeauty queen Henrietta Leaver<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[959,1218,991,1034,1036],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_mj0865tlHX1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C1341&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":404,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/08\/01\/ufo-sightings-near-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1997,"position":0},"title":"UFO sightings near Pittsburgh","date":"August 1, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh has a history of supposed \u201cout of this world\u201d encounters.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tumblr_n9lhj6df6g1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1166&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2092,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/02\/01\/helen-richey-is-the-first-woman-to-gain-a-seat-in-the-cockpit-of-an-airliner\/","url_meta":{"origin":1997,"position":1},"title":"Helen Richey is the first woman to gain a seat in the cockpit of an airliner","date":"February 1, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Helen Richey was 20 years old when she learned how to fly an airplane.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/tumblr_mhiiqwMED91rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C894&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2661,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/08\/oct-12-1962-the-front-page-headline-in-the\/","url_meta":{"origin":1997,"position":2},"title":"John F. 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