To Be or Not to Be a Citrus Queen

                What fascinates me the most from the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame archives at Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center is all of the Florida Citrus Queen/Miss Florida Citrus information. Since I know I’ll be writing about them the most (I mean, the stories are endless!), I thought it’d be a good idea to explain what it was to be a Citrus Queen.

                First, I won’t go into detail about the difference between Florida Citrus Queen and Miss Florida Citrus. All I will say is, though there were some crucial differences between the pageants and the positions, the main goal of a Florida Citrus Queen and Miss Florida Citrus was the same.

                So what was that main goal?

                According to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website, the role of a Florida Citrus Queen, and later Miss Florida Citrus, was to represent the Florida citrus industry and promote it throughout the state, nation, and world.

                Wow, sounds like a big job.

                Because of the importance of this job, there was quite a selective procedure to choose who the new queen would be. Each year, approximately 20 beautiful young women would compete to hold the title. Every year, only one was crowned.

               

                Let me tell you how the queen was selected.

               

                There was an annual Florida Citrus Queen Pageant where these lovely ladies competed for the crown. The specifics of the pageant changed over the years. For example, in an interview with 1966 Florida Citrus Queen La Voyce Leggett Porter, I was told the pageant consisted of on-the-spot interviews, swimsuit and evening gown competitions, nothing more. However, later that changed.

Despite these changes, though, there was one commonality. Like any other beauty pageant, the contestants tried their best at each part of the competition and were judged on how well they competed. The one who did the best was crowned Florida Citrus Queen.

                 After being crowned, the winner would receive all sorts of perks. These included, but were not limited to, paid traveling expenses, a new wardrobe and luggage set in citrus colors, and even a car by 1976 (“Queen” 31).

                Sounds pretty sweet, right?

                As great as being queen sounds, there were many expectations and responsibilities with the title. For her reign, the queen was expected to devote an entire year to her title (“Queen” 31). During that year, the queen had to work hard to promote the Florida citrus industry.

                In the magazine article “A Contest, a Crown, and a Lot of Hard Work,” by Michael P. Mahoney, 1969 Florida Citrus Queen, Kathy Young, explained what it was like working long hours as a queen. She said, “Practically everything a citrus queen does requires that she begin at daybreak and work well into the evening hours” (16). Ms. Young, like other queens before and after her, had to work long hours for her position.

                Now, what exactly did the queen do during these long hours? The better question is what didn’t the queen do?

                If you could see a Citrus Queen’s to-do list, your eyes might widen in disbelief! There were visits to cities, convention appearances, photo shoots, television appearances, meetings and interviews with news people, and more, all several days at a time in one week (Mahoney 16, 18). There were even publicity stunts. The queen simply always had something to do.

                Hopefully this can help you understand a little more about what a Florida Citrus Queen was and what it took to be one. Fulfilling the role wasn’t easy, but it was a promising one that brought any woman who took the crown a sense of confidence, strength, and many fond memories. The perfect example to show this is a quote from the interview with 1966 Florida Citrus Queen, La Voyce Leggett Porter that I mentioned before, which I will close with:

                “All I can say,” said Mrs. Porter in reference to her reign, “is that it was one of the most positive things that happened in my life because it gave me insight…to further pursue any goals I would have and with that I, you know, hit the ground running!”

Written by Selys Rivera

Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Summer Intern

McKay Archives Center, Florida Southern College

For more information on the queens, please visit the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website Citrus Queens section. You can also go to the Florida Citrus Queens/Miss Florida Citrus Facebook page as well.

Sources:

"Citrus Queens & Miss Florida Citrus." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Florida Citrus Hall of Fame,
             n.d. Web. 10 June 2014.

"Interview with La Voyce Leggett Porter." Personal interview. 3 June 2014.

Mahoney, Michael P. "A Contest, a Crown, and a Lot of Hard Work." Citrus & Vegetable Magazine
             Dec. 1975: 16+. Print.

"Queen Pageant Planned." Citrus & Vegetable Magazine Dec. 1975: 31-32. Print.