I should warn you that there's brief nudity in this video of the costume competition at the 1972 Westercon, a medium-sized (I suppose) science-fiction convention held that year at the Edgewater Hyatt House in Long Beach, California. At the time, the Edgewater was known primarily as the place Elvis Presley once stayed. Today, it's called the SeaPort Marina Hotel and it's known primarily as the place that used to be the Edgewater Hyatt House, where Elvis Presley once stayed.
I'm posting this mostly because it's a memory for me. My friend Rob Solomon and I drove down to Long Beach on, I believe, the July 4th weekend that year and shared a room at that convention. They still have Westercons, by the way, though it's been a long time since I've been near one or any s-f con, for that matter.
Someone wrote in an article about me a few years ago that I was "active in s-f fandom." Not really…but you didn't have to be to enjoy yourself at one of those gatherings. My whole time there, no one ever tried to discuss science-fiction with me and the one time I tried to attend an s-f related panel that was on the schedule, I found it had been cancelled because no one had shown up. Mostly, it was just a three-day party of folks with common sensibilities. I remember a lot of motel rooms where the tub was filled with ice, beer and for those of us who didn't drink, soft drinks. You just kind of went from room to room and party to party all evening except when we all piled into the grand ballroom for the big costume competition. Rob and I were in about the third row with Shel Dorf, the most prominent founder of the then-new annual comic-con in San Diego.
Without audio and reduced to choppy 8mm, the contest looks pretty shoddy in this video but I remember everyone having a lot of fun. The loudest reaction was because of two ladies who entered the costume competition without costumes. As it was explained to me, a mini-controversy had been erupting at recent s-f con costume contests. There was always someone who'd spent four months on their outfit, then lost to a woman who spent twenty minutes but had her breasts largely exposed. The cry was heard, "How am I supposed to compete with that?" Or maybe "those?" To placate what seemed like justified complaints, someone came up with the idea of adding a new category which they called "Most naked lady." The idea was that the judges could award that, then give the costuming trophies to people who were actually costumed. It was, of course, an open invitation for some woman to show up completely nude…and two that year did.
The cute blonde lady holding the vase called her presentation, "Thor's wife waiting to offer him a drink." The cute brunette lady with the foil cape called hers, "Reflections of love." I actually remember those names. The crowd loved both of them and after the show, when the entrants were all available to pose for photos, there were 11 pictures taken of the other competitors and 17,684 of Thor's wife and Miss Reflections. There was also one of the dumbest arguments I had heard in my life up to that point.
As I recall, the judges had opted to award the special trophy either to both ladies or just to "Reflections of love." This prompted outrage from some folks who felt the award should be taken literally. It was, after all, for Most Naked Lady and the blonde was completely nude, whereas the brunette was wearing sandals and a cape. See the problem? Grown men and women — I'm not sure who they were — were suddenly debating this point…and I guess there was no denying that Thor's wife was, technically, the most naked. Which prompted someone else to ask what would happen in the next costume competition when, as seemed at that moment inevitable, two or more women entered with no sandals, capes or anything of the sort. How could you award "Most naked lady" when several women were equally naked? I never heard how the matter was resolved or even if it ever was. I just recall thinking that some people can find a way to take the fun out of anything, even naked women.
I have another vivid memory of the con that involves no nudity. In fact, it involves the Marx Brothers. I'll tell you about it one of these days. In the meantime, here's a few minutes of that event described above…