History

Popular Girl competitions became a common form of fundraising during the 1930s. They were not beauty contests but provided opportunities for entrants, their families and supporters to work together to raise funds for charities and community projects.

In November 1935 the ladies’ committee of the Athenaeum decided to organise a Popular Girl competition leading up to a ‘gymkhana’ planned for March 1936. The fundraising would help to reduce the debts incurred when the Athenaeum was rebuilt following the fires that had totally destroyed the old building in 1934.

The gymkhana was timed to coincide with an Australian Natives Association State Conference to be held in Castlemaine. The Athenaeum’s secretary, John J. Huish, who was also secretary of the local ANA branch, arranged for a special train to bring delegates to Maldon to visit local tourist attractions and take part in the gymkhana.

Five local young women took part in the Athenaeum’s Popular Girl Competition. Four (Jean Pryor, Josephine Ferguson, Cath Baxter and Agnes Bent) were from Maldon and one (Dorothy Fullerton) was from Baringhup. With the support of their friends and families they were all soon actively fundraising.

For all of the girls, their major efforts involved staging dances and euchre nights. One of the more original ideas for raising money was Dorothy Fullerton’s guessing competition. At a price of 3d (3 pence) a guess, the public was asked to guess the total amount that would be raised by the five Popular Girls.

The competition closed on 29 February 1936 with a leap year dance at the ANA Hall (now the Community Centre). At the dance it was announced that Cath Baxter, who raised more than £37, was the Athenaeum’s Popular Girl. In total the competition raised over £146.  

On Friday 20 March over 260 ANA delegates came from Castlemaine for the gymkhana, which did not include any equestrian events. However, there were foot races and novelty events such as wood chopping with blunt axes. There were also children’s events including bicycle and three-legged races. A planned married ladies’ perambulator race was cancelled due to a lack of entries. At the gymkhana, each of the five young women who took part in the Athenaeum’s Popular Girl Competition was presented with a trophy.

Tony Kane
originally published as ‘A Blast from the Past’ in The Tarrangower Times on 21 July 2017.

References

Maldon Museum and Archives digitised newspapers:

The Tarrengower Times 19 November 1935.

The Tarrengower Times 10 December 1935.

The Tarrengower Times 11 February 1936.

The Tarrengower Times 18 February 1936.

The Tarrengower Times 25 February 1936.

The Tarrengower Times 2 March 1936.

The Tarrengower Times 10 March 1936.

The Tarrengower Times 17 March 1936.