Jacqueline Fuller says she entered the beauty contest to make her mother happy. 'It wasn't my style.' Photo / Sarah Ivey
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Perhaps it was her quick wit or the combination of her dark hair, flawless skin and perfect smile that won Jacqueline Fuller the "Miss Harbour Bridge" crown.
It certainly wasn't her well-refined knowledge of the Auckland Harbour Bridge - which the studious 18-year-old had spent hours learning about.
"I had
swotted up all about the bridge - the length, the dimensions, right down to the nuts and bolts and everything," said Mrs Fuller, who was interviewed for the role by a panel that included local mayors and MPs.
"It was a bit disappointing, I thought, when we weren't asked a bit about it."
Mrs Fuller, then Jacqui Noble, was crowned "Miss Harbour Bridge" by the Takapuna Business Association on June 1, 1959, beating 47 other hopefuls - including her younger sister, Glennis.
At the time, Mrs Fuller, who was working in a Queen St office, was more worried about her Highland dance classes and her other hobby, gardening.
"I didn't want to go in it, not at all. It wasn't my style and it certainly wasn't my idea of a beauty contest.
"But my father came up to me and said, 'Your mother would be very happy if you went in it', so that's what happened."
She received not only a glowing write-up in a local newspaper but what was then considered a small fortune: £25 ($50) for first prize and £20 ($40) worth of gift vouchers. "That was a huge amount of money back then, so of course the first thing I did was go out and buy this lovely white leather jacket."
Her reign as the bridge queen was a brief affair lasting just a few months.
She was driven around and made appearances at meetings "with old people mainly" on the North Shore, where she would show off her dancing talents to appreciative audiences.
But Mrs Fuller, now 69 and living with her husband Gerald in Cambridge, said her short spell of fame helped secure her dream job a couple of years later as an air hostess flying out of Whenuapai.
She thinks that given today's traffic problems, Auckland could do with another harbour bridge. "They need another one, definitely. Perhaps somewhere further up the harbour. There's just too much traffic there."
* Auckland Harbour Bridge: 50 Years of a City Icon
The New Zealand Herald covered the bridge story from the beginning.
Today its rich photographic store of the bridge's moods, its construction, and its striking presence is celebrated in a new book, Auckland Harbour Bridge: 50 Years of a City Icon .
Author Renee Lang delved into the treasure trove and brings to life a fascinating history with more than 100 images.
The book is available at most bookstores, $24.99 (Random House) or you can contact the New Zealand Herald photosales department to order a copy: email, photosales@nzherald.co.nz or phone 09 373 6093.
