Beauty pageants are a really strange tradition of the United States. The idea of parading around the local woman, making them showcase weird things on command, and then judging which one looked the best doing feels completely wrong in today’s modern context. But back in the day, they were everywhere, and they were weirder than you think.

Ankles used to be considered the pinnacle of sexiness, so they had ankle judging competitions where the rest of the women’s bodies were covered by a curtain or masked up. Then, the local foot fetishist would walk through and make the decision. Other pageants also required masks and costumes, and the pictures feel like some nightmarish, chauvinist Halloween party. Also, some pageants got so needlessly specific. There was a Miss Potato Pageant in Idaho, a Blueberry Pageant in Indiana. Even a Miss Unsafe Breaks and Miss Radio for local businesses.

It’s all very odd, somewhat uncomfortable, but definitely fascinating and funny.