At left is the photo that was taken to announce my winning the Miss Rheingold 1956 title. It was a thrilling moment, when I received a telegram from the President of the Liebmann Breweries, Mr. Philip Liebmann, that I had won the contest in which there were six of us vying for the crown. We had campaigned for six weeks up and down the East and West coasts and then had to wait until the votes were counted in the second largest election, next to the Presidential.

The year started in Lake Placid with MVP Johnny Padres and I being crowned King and Queen of Winter. After that, it was a whirlwind of activity! The most urgent and important was to have my clothes fitted for the coming 12 months of billboard, magazine and grocery store ads. In January, I was flown out to California, where we started shooting all the ads. I would be picked up in the morning by a limousine, taken to a studio, where my make-up and hair would be done and then the limousine would take me to the various locations. The most amusing one was the January ad, where snow was manufactured on a hill, on which I was to slide down on a toboggan. Since the California sun was beating down and melting the snow quite quickly, we had to get the shot in a hurry, otherwise more snow would have to be manufactured. After the ads were completed, the personal appearances, ribbon cuttings and waving to crowds from floats or convertible cadillacs began and continued right through the end of 1956. The prize for the year was $50,000!

Below are the twelve ads, that appeared during the twelve months of 1956 and the one for out West. To learn more about the Miss Rheingold contest, you can read this article from the New-York Historical Society: The Fashion of Beer: Miss Rheingold of 1956.