Detroit 1939
That was some right fancy detective work - well solved!
Patricia Mary Donnelly, Miss America 1939, a Detroit area native, was perhaps a natural for this ribbon cutting ceremony at the 1939 Detroit Auto Show, held in November of that year. Patricia Mary Donnelly sang in a "double trio" in grade school. She also sang on the radio, worked as a runway and floor model with J.L. Hudson and sang with a band right after high school. On a dare, she entered a pageant at Jefferson Beach and was crowned "Miss Michigan".
In events that featured famed film star Buddy Rogers and crooner Rudy Vallee, Pat didn't give herself much chance of winning in Atlantic City. Taking this all in good stride, Pat decided to take a swim in her only bathing suit on Saturday afternoon, only to find out that evening that she had made the finals. In a charming twist, another contestant loaned Pat her swimsuit to compete in.
For her talent presentation, Pat sang the ballad "To You" and then switched to a more upbeat number with "Old Man Mose" where in the second chorus she picked up the bass fiddle to end her routine. "I didn't really "play" it", Pat insists, "I slapped it!"
Standing among the final five that evening, Pat and the other finalists were called to speak with the judges in the judge's box. Their question to the contestants was, "What would you do if you became Miss America?" Pat waited until last to give her response as her peers told of what they'd do upon receiving the title. When they got to Pat, she said, "I'd drop dead!"
Reading was Detroit's mayor at the time but not much longer. Reading was for a time a semi-pro wrestler. He later worked variously as a printer, a newspaper executive, and a real estate dealer before entering public life. Reading was appointed City Assessor in 1921, moved to City Controller in 1924, and was elected City Clerk in 1926. He stayed in the office of clerk until 1939, when he ran for mayor, ultimately defeating Patrick H. O'Brien by nearly two-to-one. However, once in the office, Reading engaged in graft, selling protection to numbers racketeers and promotions to police officers. This corruption was exposed as the campaign for the next mayoral election was gearing up, and Reading was crushed by Edward Jeffries.
Shortly after leaving office, Reading was indicted on charges of accepting bribes and conspiring to protect Detroit's gambling rackets, and was sentenced to prison.
Here's a photo from the outside of the event.
