Jamaica's Ten Type Beauty Contest

Lest We Forget

Since scholarship on the Ten Type Beauty Contest is limited, details on the pageant was taken from research conducted by Dr. Rochelle Rowe in her book, “Imagining Caribbean Womanhood: Race, Nation & Beauty Competitions, 1929-1970” and her more specified academic paper, “Glorifying the Jamaican Girl”: The “Ten Types – One People” Beauty Contest, Racialized Femininities, and Jamaican Nationalism”.

In 1954, then Minister of Finance in the Jamaica Labour Party, Donald Sangster had this grand idea: Jamaica will celebrate "three hundredth anniversary of British rule in Jamaica" and the celebrations would mark 300 years of "progress and development as a junior partner with Britain in her vast Colonial enterprise". However, JLP lost the 1955 election and the already approved celebrations were rebranded under the Norman Manley led - PNP government as "a celebration of Jamaica’s three hundred years as a national entity with a distinctive history, culture, and people". The highlight of this celebration to commentate 300 years of national pride was the beauty pageant to be held in May. This beauty pageant was the “Ten Type Beauty Contest” which was designed to showcase the diversity of Jamaica. The Star launched “Ten Types” in May 1955 as an inclusive beauty contest, the first of its kind, under the theme: “Every lassie has an equal chance”. The beauty contest thus ended with ten separate beauty queens: Miss Ebony (A Jamaican girl of black complexion), Miss Mahogany (A Jamaican Girl of Cocoa-brown Complexion), Miss Satinwood (A Jamaican Girl of Coffee-and-Milk Complexion), Miss Golden Apple (A Jamaican Girl of Peaches-and-Cream Complexion), Miss Apple Blossom (A Jamaican Girl of European Parentage), Miss Pomegranate (A Jamaican girl of White-Mediterranean Parentage), Miss Sandalwood (A Jamaican Girl of Pure Indian Parentage), Miss Lotus (A Jamaican Girl of Pure Chinese Parentage), Miss Jasmine (A Jamaican Girl of Part Chinese Parentage) and Miss Allspice (A Jamaican Girl of Part Indian Parentage). The local reception was positive and the international fanfare projected the idea of Jamaica been a racial paradise, where racism does not exist; and the country having the ability to convert racists. So positive was the reception of Ten Type to the Jamaica brand, that the beauty competition would go on to be one of the biggest influence in shaping the nation's new national motto: "Out of Many, One People"

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