Miss Finland 1919 – Rauha Aaltonen

It is believed that the first beauty contest held in Finland was waaaay back in 1919 – when the winner of Miss Finland 1919 was Miss Rauha Aaltonen of Pori. Coming second was Mrs Viola Hanén, the wife of a doctor wife from Kurikka, while an actress, Miss Ida Kalske of Helsinki placed third. (It would seem that in 1919, being married was certainly no bar to entry in beauty contests).

Other contestants in 1919 were Mrs Jenny Kare of Kotka, Mrs Ester Perho of Helsinki, farmers daughter Anna Suominen of Parainen, Mrs Agnes Sylvan of Helsinki, Miss Juno Krugell of Helsinki, Mrs Augusta V. Kerava, Lempi Elisabeth Granlund, the wife of an engineer from Tampere and Miss Milja Virta from Turku.

The photographs in this post are taken from an old magazine of the period, Maailma-lehti (World Journal), which was published from 1918 through to 1929. In this early Finnish beauty contest, the competition was judged on photographs rather than a pageant as we know it today. Small matters such as authorizations of the woman photographed were not a matter of any concern – photographers were invited to send pictures in of any one they had photos of that they considered suitable. For example, the second place-winner, Mrs Viola Hanén, apparently had no idea she had been entered and her placement came as somewhat of a shock (the photographer apparently afterwards came in for some words of criticism).

Also of interest is the time it took to take these photos. These days we take instant snaps – back then the girls had to sit perfectly still for long periods of time in front of the camera to get a good clear image (long exposure times were needed). Images that were sent in included descriptions of eye and hair color. There was also a broader cultural-historical context to these early beauty competitions. In the aftermath of the Finnish Civil War, many Finns felt a very strong need for differentiation between Finns and the “bloodthirsty Bolsheviks” who had been “raging” in Finland. And what better way to do it, than by emphasizing the then very fashionable racial theory based mainly on the studies of physical anthropology that emphasised the differences between Finns and the Mongolized and Asiatic Russians.

Finns in general at the time liked this idea of proving that they were racially superior to the primitive Russian-Mongolians. The panel of judges for the 1919 competition included for example a University of Helsinki physical anthropology professor. The winner, Miss Hilja Aaltonen was filmed and the facial proportions of the contestants were judged to be very good average representatives of the Finnish people.

As for the actual Miss Finland competition, this was held for the first time in 1931 and was run annually up to 1939. The 1940 competition was not held due to the Winter War between Finland and the USSR.  In 1941, a Miss Finland was to have been selected but the competition was held at a more modest level and the title was changed to Miss Messuhalliksi (Miss Exhibition Hall) – the winner was Sanelma Pesonen (later Vuorre).

Due to the Continuation War (the ongoing war between the USSR and Finland during WW2) no Miss Finland was chosen in 1942, 1943 and 1944 (indeed, even dancing was forbidden during the war years – war being a serious business and Finns being, on the whole, serious people). In 1945, the competition was arranged by the Finnish Civil and Military Service Association, in 1946 by Virkistystä and from 1947 up to 1961 by Ohjelmapalvelu Oy.

The 1960 Miss Finland winner was chosen by Heli Heiskala, but the jury was dissatisfied with the level of competition and declared the previous year’s Miss Finland, Tarja Nurmi, to be the 1960 beauty queen.

In 1959 the Miss Finland competition was broadcast on Finnish television and again in 1962. In 1962 the audience was allowed to vote for their favorite via phone and interest in the voting was so high that the Helsinki telephone lines overloaded and the capital phone system went down.

The 1995 winner, Carmen Mäkinen was, after winning the title, found to have been photographed  in the nude and as a result lost the title. This was the first time the title was taken away from a Miss Finland. In 2011, an exceptional situation arose when the ruling Miss Finland, Pia Pakarinen, gave up the throne to Sara Sieppi and Niina Lavonen.

The Miss Finland competition has been organised and run for the last 50 years by Finnartist (Ltd.), a company specialized in beauty pageants. In addition, Finnartist is the official representative of the Miss Universe and Miss World beauty pageants in Finland. The Miss Finland live final is still one of the most watched television shows in the country. The winner in 2012 was 21-year old Sara Chafak, while the 2013 winner and current holder of the title is Lotta Hintsa.

Subsequent Posts will cover a compilation of photos of Miss Finland winners over the years. In the meantime, here are a couple more photos of the Miss Finland 1919 competition contestants.

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