A Beauty Contest

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 55, 6 March 1937, Page 14 (Supplement)

A Beauty Contest

A beauty contest of an unusual kind is promised in this Coronation year (says tho Manchester Guardian). For once in a way neither babes nor belles will be competitors. The prize, a National Coronation Cup, will be presented to the village which by the development of gardens and the removal of blemishes from its aspect can "show the greatest transformation from unsightliness to beauty.” The proposal, contained in a booklet entitled "For King and Countryside,” comes from the Coronation Planting Committee, a body which includes representatives of all the important organisations concerned to preserve and improve the face of British, from the Council for the Beautifying Association. The booklet remarks that though Britain is justly famous for its lovely villages, some in modern days have grown careless of their charm and slovenly in their appearance. The competition should put the backsliders on their mettle and at least raise some healthy discussions in the taprooms of the Red Lions and Barley Mows about what constitutes unsightliness. Some fierce if intensely local patriotism will certainly be voiced, and some vigorous disputes within the communities may well result. The oldest inhabitant can be relied on to remember a day when the village looked far comelier than now. But at least the argument will be more profitable than any involved in estimating the charms of film stars to be, and it nmy well have some happy results.