How the Miss America 'crown'ing glory has evolved

• JOHN DeROSIER, Staff Writer
• 8 hrs ago
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Editor’s Note

Editor's note: This story is part of our special Miss America section of the Press of Atlantic City. Read more stories, watch videos, scroll through photo galleries and keep up with the next few weeks on our official Miss America page at PressofAC.com/missamerica.

After months of preparation, the 52 contestants in the Miss America competition will vie for a carefully crafted, silver-plated piece of metal loaded with 792 Swarovski Austrian crystals.
That piece of metal is better known as the crown.
The making of the crown, which has been a staple of the pageant since its founding in the 1920s, is one thing that did not return to Atlantic County when the pageant moved back to Boardwalk Hall in 2013 after a brief stint in Las Vegas.

Evolution of Miss America's crown

The Linwood business that used to make the crown, Schoppy’s, was not asked to be part of the event once the Miss America Organization decided to return to New Jersey.
“There was a phone call made, and a lot of people were disappointed,” Schoppy’s manager Dave Talarico said, recounting when he heard the pageant was moving to Las Vegas. “They said the pageant was dying in Atlantic City.”
Since 2007, Miss America crowns have been made by K.A. Concepts, of Huntington Station, New York. Even though his company no longer manufactures the crown, Talarico said he’s happy the pageant is back in Atlantic City.
“Taking the pageant out of Atlantic City was like taking the Packers out of Green Bay or taking the Mummers out of Philadelphia,” he said. “It means more to us. It’s part of our local identity.”
But even through the change in manufacturers and pageant’s move to the west coast and back, the crown has maintained its iconic four-pointed look.
“No changes have been made to the crown since we’ve been producing it,” said Bill Israel, owner of K.A. Concepts.
The crown has been changed only a handful of times in the pageant’s 96-year history. The most recent change came in 2000, when for one year the crown was gold instead of silver to mark the changing of the millennium.
Talarico said the four-pointed model was designed in 1955 in part by Lenora Slaughter, who was the pageant’s director from 1941 to 1967.
“She was the mother of the Miss America pageant,” Talarico said. “She made a lot of changes and dedicated her life to that pageant, but you don’t really hear her name much anymore.”
Israel said this year’s crown will look the same as it has in previous years, and there are no plans to change it.
Those future plans may not include Schoppy’s, but Talarico is philosophical about that. He said he learned a lot about customer service through his experience with Miss America. And even though Schoppy’s is no longer directly involved with Miss America, Talarico said, he is making more products for pageants than he ever has.

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State organizations, including those in New Jersey, Oklahoma, Texas and California, have ordered customized pins, bracelets, trays and trophies, among other things. He also manufactures items for local pageants, such as a trophy for Miss Linwood.
Besides pageants, Schoppy’s makes trophies for just about every event imaginable, including beer pong, backyard sports and fantasy football.

The front of the store is filled with fantasy football trophies that resemble the Vince Lombardi trophy given to the winner of the Super Bowl every year. Behind them is a glass case of Miss America memorabilia.
“You come in and see the new Schoppy’s and the old Schoppy’s,” Talarico said, and people still come into the store during pageant week to look at the memorabilia.
Talarico looks back at his involvement with the pageant fondly. He said he understands changing manufacturers was just a business decision.

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However, he would love the opportunity to once again make the iconic four-pointed crown.
“I’d love to put my hat back in the ring,” he said. “I think we would do a great job.”

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