Stunning photographs of beauty pageants, taken a century ago show that nothing has changed yet everything is different. Unseen Vintage pictures from the 1920s, 30s and 40s show smiling young women lined up in their bathing suits, standing side on with a jutted hip and one leg stuck forward - or even in the air. And, just as today, there can only be one winner.
But while their poses and outfits are largely similar, there are glaring differences about today's pageants and those of yesteryear. Most notably, there are no African American women among the contestants.
Indeed, African American women did not begin competing in the Miss America pageant until the 1970s; the first black winner, Vanessa Williams, was crowned in 1984. Another difference is the location - the majority of these black and white snaps were taken in Atlantic City, the home of the annual pageant.
Click through to see the more interesting snaps of the bygone era right here…