Gerry Bye was the 1959 winner of the Miss Palisades contest.
The Pacific Palisades Chambe of Commerce hosted the first Pacific Palisades Teen Contest in 1958. Then, only girls competed, and the event included a swimsuit competition. The venue was packed as people came to cheer on daughters and neighbors and was judged by town’s celebrities.
Over the years the swimsuit competition was dropped, and young men were added to the contest and allowed to vie for Mr. Palisades.
Resident George Junger sent Circling the News the clipping from the Palisadian-Post. “Pretty in Mink.” The caption read, Gerry Bye was the 1959 Miss Palisades contest winner, proclaimed by a panel of celebrity judge that ranged from Doug McClure and Peter Graves to Vivian Vance and Virginia Bruce. The winner of the contest in the 1950s received a mink coat.
But 1958 recipient Jean Price said the prize was short-lived as the minks later had to be returned.
1958 winner Jean Price surrounded by the two runners-up and the judges.
Junger sent a photo of the still beautiful Gerry Bye in a mink. He was asked about the mink.
“It came from Julie Christensen, who had bought it back in the day when shaming wasn’t in fashion,” Junger said.
When the Chamber of Commerce closed, the Palisadian-Post took over the event. That first year, 2015, Daniel Gottesman and Danika Masi won the titles. The following year Evan Epstein and Casey Longstreet were crowned and 2017 winners were Daniel Allen and Maude Tipton. It appears that it might have been the last contest ending a 59-year tradition.
The former editor of the Palisadian-Post Frances Sharpe wrote a 2008 story (“Mr. and Miss Palisades – Where Are they Now?”) about some of the winners. click here.
The beautiful Gerry Bye, the 1959 winner, wearing a mink coat.