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Kōrero: Beauty contests

Thelma McMillan, first Miss New Zealand, 1926

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Thelma McMillan, first Miss New Zealand, 1926

The first Miss New Zealand contest was held in Auckland in 1926. It was run by newspapers in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Provincial contests were held first and the winners and runners-up in these contests competed at the final in Auckland. All of the contests were based on photographs published in the newspapers and the winners were chosen by a public vote. The supreme winner was 19-year-old Miss Otago, Thelma McMillan.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Hocken Collections, University of Otago

Reference: S12-223a

Permission of the Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Further information may be obtained from the Library through its website.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Kerryn Pollock, Beauty contests – Beauty contests, 19th century to the 1950s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/38679/thelma-mcmillan-first-miss-new-zealand-1926 (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Kerryn Pollock, i tāngia i te 14 November 2012, updated 1 December 2015.