Historical Photos To Blow Your Mind: New Release!

What Lovely Eyes You Have, My Dear

No, this isn’t a still from a horror film. These bizarrely-dressed women were participants of the Miss Lovely Eyes competition in Florida held in 1930. The purpose of the nightmare-inducing Hannibal Lecter masks was to block out all the contestants’ other features so the judges could focus entirely on their eyes.

In the 1930s, bizarre beauty pageants were fairly common. At other Lovely Eyes competitions, women obscured their features with everything from ridiculous Abraham Lincoln hats that fell down to their chins and had holes cut out, to pieces of paper, swatches of fabric, and colorful bandannas. Somehow, we’re not any less disturbed.