1970 - Eyes popped as the beauties of 64 nations assembled in Miami Beach for the annual pageant of pulchritude. Said the owners of some of the universe's loveliest legs as they gave the vote to miniskirts over maxis and midis: "If you've got 'em, flaunt 'em." Miss Canada, Norma Joyce Hickey, said: "The midi looks horrible. And I wouldn't be able to walk in the streets with a maxi."
1970 - On the day of Miss Universe 1970's homecoming, Puerto Rico's governor, Luis A. Ferre, proclaimed a half-holiday for all government workers.
1970 - Miss USA, Debbie Shelton, had this to say about her experiences at both the Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants: "In Miss USA everybody knew what they were there for because they spoke the same language. These girls at Miss Universe sometimes don't even know what's going on. There isn't so much competition."
1971 - Upon her arrival in Miami Beach, Miss England, Marilyn Ward, was not too optimistic about her chances of winning the Miss Universe title. Despite her perfect measurements of 36-24-36, she replied, "My chances are slim."
1971 - Pageant host Bob Barker noted that the average age of a Miss USA contestant was 18 and 1/2 and the average age of a Miss Universe contestant was 20 and 1/2. "Here, we're so youth conscious, but in Europe, they seem to appreciate women like wine." Barker also defended the women who competed in the pageant, saying, "I've heard about Fem Lib's criticism of the girls and the contest. But these girls are good students, not like some other young people who seem to be floating through life without goal or ambition, just hanging around."
1971 - Meanwhile, Miss Universe 1971, Lebanon's Georgina Rizk, knew she would win the title - a fortuneteller told her so. "Madame Abla read my Turkish coffee sediments weeks ago," Georgina said. "She advised that I would travel to a faraway land and be very successful." Georgina also divulged that she stole a glance at emcee Bob Barker's cue cards. "I peeked over Bob's shoulder and saw the results. I said to myself, 'It's not true.'" In the photo, we see Georgina with third runner-up Miss Puerto Rico, Beba Franco (left) and first runner-up Miss Australia, Toni Rayward.
1971 - Miss Universe of 1971 said she approved of sex before marriage. "We must have a lot of experience," the 18 year-old Lebanese beauty told a New York news conference, "Marriage is not a simple thing." As for the ideal qualities in a man, Miss Rizk said they were force of character, intelligence and will.
1971 - Miss Universe 1971 Georgina Rizk of Lebanon held her first news conference in her native country, but her French boyfriend was not allowed to attend. Wearing a black silk shirt with matching hot pants and a diamond studded tiara, the beauty met with newsmen and the tourist officials. But her boyfriend, Philippe Duc, 19, was turned away because officials did not think he was properly attired. Duc, an architecture student with
longish hair, wore chino slacks and a dyed undershirt.
1971 - Miss Virgin Islands, Cherri Creque, who place in the top 12, said, "I began to believe blacks have a chance in beauty contests when a black girl won Miss World last year."
1972 - Just weeks before the 1972 pageant in Puerto Rico, Miss Universe 1971 Georgina Rizk announced she would not come to Puerto Rico to crown her successor. She said she feared reprisals for the murder of 16 Puerto Ricans religious pilgrims at the Tel Aviv airport on May 30 by Japanese terrorists. The terrorists were purportedly trained at Lebanese bases by the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Miss Universe 1970, Puerto Rico's own Marisol Malaret, substitued for Georgina and crowned Miss Universe 1972.
1972 - On the night of the pageant, 400 members of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party picketed in front of the site for pageant, the Cerromar Beach Hotel, protesting that the pagent was "an exploitation of women." Juan Bras, secretary general of the Socialist Party, said the pageant "measured the girls like they were cows...we have nothing against the girls...but female workers are toiling while bourgeois girls are modeling."
1972 - Moments after winning the crown, the new Miss Universe, Australia's Kerry Anne Wells, said she was "ectastic to be Miss Universe. Right now I'm thinking very much of my mother and father - and I am going to call them as soon as I get out of here."
Meanwhile, her parents, in Perth, were stunned by the news of her victory. "We are still trying to convince ourselves it is really true."
1973 - Miss Universe Spa Salons open in New York City, Scardale (New York), and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ad campaign for the salons carried this slogan: "Now you can learn to be beautiful from the most beautiful women in the universe."
1973 - Pageant official Cindy Adams said that because of the Olympics massacre in Munich, Germany the past year, Miss Israel, Limor Schriebman, would be bodyguarded by two armed security men throughout the contest.
Cindy added that the security men would even accompany her on swimsuit fittings and sleep in the hotel room next to hers. When pageant judge Earl Wilson asked Cindy who would protect Limor from the security men, Cindy replied, "She's got a chaperone to keep you judges and all other men away from her, Stupid!"
1973 - Miss Colombia, Ana Lucia Agudelo, claimed that the European contestants "smelled very bad. Even the prettiest women in Europe smell of garlic and onion." She added that "there were beauty queens in sweaters who were unbathed."
1973 - The new Miss Universe, Margarita Moran, the pageant's second winner from the Philippines, admitted she didn't even want to enter Miss Philippines, much less Miss Universe. "I really did not want to enter any beauty competitions. My friends pushed me into it and here I am."
1973 - Margarita Moran, Miss Universe 1973, noted in a press conference that U.S. President Richard Nixon was "the world's greatest man." She promptly received a letter from the president thanking her for her "thoughtful comment on my efforts to bring peace in the world." President Nixon went on to say "I can think of no better concern for a Miss Universe than peace in our world and you have a very unique opportunity to awaken people's thoughts to peace."
1974 - The pageant in Manila was unaffected by a typhoon, the most violent of the year in the Philippines. Winds of 89 mph (127 kph) blasted through a coastal province less than 100 miles (165 km) northeast of Manila.
1974 - In response to the media frenzy and pageant fever gripping Manila, Secretary of Public Information Francisco Tatad released a statement stating "...this going overboard by media on a beauty contest has had the effect of presenting a distorted system of national social priorities...of glorifying frivolity to a point beyond belief and of threatening the cultural reforms of society."
1974 - What were the very first things the new Miss Universe, Spain's Amparo Munoz, did after winning the crown? She called her boyfriend and prayed for her country's ailing leader, Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
1974 - During her champagne victory breakfast, the new Miss Universe joked to reporters: "With the way I am living like a queen, I might get used to it. In one year, I will have to look for a rich boyfriend." In the photo, we see Amparo being all sweet and friendly with a potential future rich boyfriend.
1974 - For the reigning Miss Universe, fed up with the strains of her world tour, the sight of Ian Protheroe at a fashion show in Australia was "love at first sight." The 20 year-old Spanish beauty, sent her chaperone to arrange an introduction to the 20 year-old sales manager for a Melbourne firm. The two dined and did the night clubs with friends of his until 3 a.m. Saturday. "She's a great chick. I want to see her again," said Protheroe. Miss Universe expressed similar sentiments. "I have never been in a country where there are so many good-looking men," she said.
