Lovely “Bobbie” the 1942 beach girl
In the dark days of World War 2, when Australia and Newcastle felt threatened by Japanese military might, the population needed something to take its mind off the war. And what better than a beach girl contest? A promotional badge for the 1942 Newcastle Beach Beauty Quest. These sixpenny "buttons" were sold by the contestants to raise funds. Actually, the competition (modelled on similar ones that had been held in Sydney throughout the previous decade) was the idea of the Newcastle Commercial Travellers' Club (an association of travelling salesmen), which had already organised some successful fund-raising…