DEL MAR — Like the wildflowers that bloom in the spring, queen pageants are sprouting out in almost every community. The largest and most prestigious event widely known as the Fairest of the Fair pageant, sponsored by the San Diego County Fair, began at the Del Mar Hotel in 1947.

With the revival of the fair after World War II, Manager Ernie Hulick decided royalty to reign over the festivities was in order. The queen selection was the highlight of a dinner at the hotel. Then Fred Heitfeld, special events director, coined the Fairest of the Fair title for the winner.

Del Mar drug store owner Nick Giordano, who was active in the Chamber of Commerce, had a friend in Hollywood who provided an “applause meter” to determine the winner. Like the public address system, it didn’t work. However, the thunderous response garnered by Gloria O’Rear of Del Mar left no doubt who should be crowned..

It became a countywide pageant when fair Manager Paul T. Mannen saw it as an opportunity to promote the fair and to encourage commercial exhibitors and participants in the various competitive divisions.

The Miss San Diego Pageant preliminary to Miss California sponsored by the San Diego Jaycees and the Miss Southern California Pageant held on the Fourth of July in Oceanside were the only major competitors.

Prior to the Fairest of the Fair competition, most communities did not have queens so it was up to Jack Harrington, fair special events director who succeeded Heitfeld, to visit organizations in those communities and help to organize them. In the late 1950s, he recruited musical entertainers from the Naval Training Center in San Diego with the promise they would meet the prettiest girls in each community. They did. The selection of a queen became the highlight of “County Fair PreVues,” an entertainment program presented by the fair.

It was also a launching pad for Navy participants. Most notable were Dean Jones, who signed with Walt Disney Productions and starred in several movies, and Skip Young who had a major role in the weekly “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet” television series that ran for several years.

Today’s queen contests attract plenty of community attention, however, the Fairest of the Fair pageant that brought all the community queens together in one super contest is sorely missed. Will it ever be revived? Not likely.