In 1907, the Chicago Tribune came up with a bright idea. Why not find the most beautiful woman in America?

They had already found the most beautiful woman in the world the year before. She was a Chicagoan and her name was Miss Della Carson. But the Tribune liked to keep it fresh so they decided to have a new competition, possibly even making it an annual affair, to find the current most beautiful woman in the world.

I’d like to profile a few of the entries over the next couple of days, but it’s important for us to have a baseline so we can judge properly.  So let’s have a look at Miss Della Carson.

Della Carson, the reining queen

The caption says Dilla is on the left side of the picture, but she’s on the right.

Della’s favorite beauty salon, which looks pretty great

Della Carson must have been a product of her times. She’s attractive, in my opinion, and probably photogenic. But the most beautiful woman in America?

According to the Tribune, there was widespread agreement amongst men and women that Della represented the ideal of feminine beauty. They had some kind of ranking system and the runners-up weren’t even close.

Could anyone topple Della from her lofty perch ?  We’ll soon see!