Manila Carnival was an annual carnival festival held in Manila during the early American colonial period up to the time before the Second World War. It was organized by the American colonial administration to showcase the economic development of the Philippines. The highlight of the event is the crowning of the Carnival Queens.

History

The Manila Carnival was first held in February 1908. The carnival's original organizer was an American colonel named George T. Langhorne who asked the Philippine Assembly for 50,000 pesos to build a cockpit, exhibit "half-naked" Igorot tribesmen and set up curiosities. Horrified by the plan of the proposed carnival, Governor-General James Smith transformed the planned freak show into a ritual celebrating the Philippine-American progress in the islands. Secretary of Commerce Cameron Forbes took charge of the preparation and asked 15,000 instead of 50,000 from the Assembly. He planned to raise another 15,000 by private subscription campaigns such as the Carnival Queen contest.

The site of the Manila Carnival was the old Wallace Field that was just off the present Luneta Park.

During those two weeks of carnival, Wallace Field was walled with amakan and given a decorative façade brilliant with lights and adornments. A variety of shows were presented like circus, vaudevilles, slapstick comedies, and the grand theatrical presentation of Borromeo Lou, the great impresario of the era. Starts such as Atang de la Rama, Katy de la Cruz, Canuplin, and Dionisia Castro often staged performances that audiences loved.

The entrance fee ranges from 50 centavos and up and one can buy at the gate a mask, a horn, and a bag of confetti. The children wore a harlequin costume, a clown costume, or a dunce hat, while older ones wore dominoes or similar attractive attires.

The scene was like New Year's Eve with all the gaiety, laughter and gossips in old Manila circling around. Everyone seemed to be tooting horns or throwing confetti.

Parades There were five parades during the carnival season:

1. The opening day parade, which was mostly clown and circus 2. The military parade, mostly Americans and Scouts 3. The civic educational parade in which the public schools of Manila participated, and wherein each school compete for the best and most original floats 4. The business and industrial parade in which the international community participated 5. The floral parade, which is the highlight parade of the carnival. The parade featured the competing carnival beauties as well as the newly crowned Carnival Queen, her consort, and her court.

Carnival Queens The highlight of the Manila Carnival is the crowning of the Carnival Queen by the Carnival mascot Billiken. Cameron Forbes and the carnival promoters established the Carnival Queen contest. The Queen will be selected through purchase of ballots through newspaper clippings. Initially, Forbes decided to restrict the contest to the daughters of the wealthiest families from the capital city of Manila but eventually accepted entries from different parts of the country. The Queen was voted through a system of money ballots or magazine coupons. Philippine magazines like Liwayway, Telembang, and Lipang Kalabaw had such coupons inserted in their pages.

The Carnival Queens dressed the most beautiful costumes of the parade, ranging from Egyptian inspired to Siamese to that of the Arabian Scheherazade.

The first Manila Carnival in 1908 elected two queens representing the Oriental beauty and the Western beauty (called Occident) – Pura Villanueva from Iloilo City, Iloilo (Queen of the Orient) and Marjorie Radcliffe Colton from Galesburg, Illinois (Queen of the Occident). The only other time this happened was in 1920 Manila Carnival. In 1912, for the first time aside from the carnival queen the contest chose four ladies to represent Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and America. In 1913, three women representing Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were named as co-winners of the Manila Carnival. The first and only American woman to solely win as Carnival Queen was Mela Kamakee Fairchild (born in Oakland, California in 1898) in the 1917 Manila Carnival. Two queens were also chosen in 1926 to elect the last to be called as the Carnival Queen (Socorro Henson) and the very first Miss Philippines (Anita Agoncillo Noble)

Manila Carnival Queen is the precursor of various national pageants in the Philippines.

Titleholders Manila Carnival Queen titleholders Year TitleImage Winner Hometown Age Consort Notes1908Carnival QueenPura Villanueva (Queen of the Orient)Iloilo City, Iloilo21Manuel Gomez (King of the Orient), Mauro Prieto, Tomas del Rosario (alternative consorts) Officially First Manila Carnival Queens. Initially, Ms. Leonarda Limjap, aged 17 was named Manila Carnival Queen by the Philippine Assembly but later resigned the title before she was crowned in late January 1908 in favor of her family vacation in Japan. Villanueva was selected as Limjap's replacement who initially refused to take the title but became the official first Manila carnival queen upon coronation.Marjorie Radcliffe Colton (Queen of the Occident)Galesburg, Illinois23Col. George T. Langhorne (King of the Occident) 1909 Carnival Queen Julia Guerrero Agcaoili Ilocos Norte 20 Francisco Agcaoili 1912 Carnival Queen Paz Jurado Marquez Tayabas (now Quezon) 18 ?They were the first set of queens to wear national and regional dresses, as opposed to the European-influenced wardrobes of the past Queens.Reina de LuzonPacita Bantug de GuzmanSan Isidro, Nueva Ecija21 ?Reina de VisayasAmparo Benitez NoelCarcar, Cebu ?Juan OrbetaReina de MindanaoRemedios Fernandez ReyesMambajao, Camiguin19Sr. Baldomero PelaezReina del Dia AmericanaMattie May LawUS ? ?1913 Reina de Luzon Julia Otero Arceo Batangas 18 Reina de VisayasAna Sandoval PalancaIloilo / Cuyo, Palawan15 Reina de MindanaoInocencia Cabato Zamboanga? 1914 Carnival Queen Dolores dela Cerna Perez Rubio Ermita, Manila 1915 Carnival Queen Concepcion Medina Masbate 15 Joseph Manning 1916 Carnival Queen Manolita Barretto Bulacan / Zambales 16 Jose Chuidian 1917 Carnival Queen Mela Fairchild Oakland, California 19 Maj. William Vaughn The first and only American woman to solely win the title. 1918 Carnival Queen Enriqueta de Vega Aldanese Cebu 18 Jose Reyes Galvez1920Carnival Queen Trinidad Roura de Leon San Miguel, Bulacan 19 – Virginia Randolph HarrisonNew York City, New York18Ralph Earnshaw 1921 Carnival Queen Carmen Prieto Manila 16 Dr. Basilio J. Valdes 1922 Carnival Queen Virginia Llamas Pagsanjan, Laguna 16 Carlos P. Romulo The first carnival queen to marry her king consort. 1923 Carnival Queen Catalina Castillo Apacible Balayan, Batangas 19 Eugenio Lopez 1924 Carnival Queen Trinidad Rodriguez Fernandez Cuyo, Palawan 24 Jose Araneta 1925 Carnival Queen Carmen Papa San Pedro St., (now "Evangelista") Manila 19 Vicente Mendoza 1926 Carnival Queen Miss Philippines Miss Pearl of the Orient Seas Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Socorro Henson Anita Noble Carmen Fargas Rosario Genato Aurora Reyes Bala Amai Miring Angeles, Pampanga Lemery, Batangas Aplaya, Ayala, Zamboanga, Zamboanga del Sur Manila Samar Lanao 18 20 18 – – – Vicente Rufino Leopoldo Kahn, Antonio de las Alas (alternate consort) No Consort No Consort No Consort No Consort First national beauty contest. The last winner to be named carnival queen was Socorro Henson while the very first to be named Miss Philippines was Anita Agoncillo Noble. 1927 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Luisa Fernandez Marasigan Iluminada Laurel Lourdes Rodriguez Nora Maulana Gumaca, Tayabas (now Quezon) Laguna Cebu Sulu 16 ? ? ? Guillermo Jose No Consort No Consort No Consort 1929 Miss Philippines Pacita Ongsiako de los Reyes Tondo, Manila 17 1930 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Consuelo "Monina" Acuña Estrella Alvarez Luz Villaluna Rosario Ruiz Zorilla Iloilo Laoag, Ilocos Norte Cebu? – 17 – – – Emilio Osmeña – – Rosendo M. Chanco 1931 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Maria Villanueva Kalaw Lina Araullo Luisa Rodriguez Louise Stevens Batangas / Iloilo – – – 20 – – – Teddy Kalaw – – – First second-generation queen (mother – daughter carnival queens) in Carnival history.Kalaw became a senator and head of the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures 1932 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Emma Gonzales Zamora Rosalina C. Lim Aleli A. Guzman Violeta Lopez Quiapo, Manila Pangasinan Paco, Manila Iloilo 19 – – – Dr. Arturo de Santos Geronimo Santiago Jr. – – 1933 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Engracia Arcinas Laconico Charity O. Crow Blanquita Opinion Angelina Biunas Sta. Cruz, Manila Hollister, California / Iloilo – Manila 21 17 – 17 Dr. Gregorio Y. Zara – – – First Miss Philippines and another carnival queen to marry her king consort. 1934 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Clarita Tankiang Luisa Laconico Marcelina Cuenca Consuelo Villamor Marilao, Bulacan – Manila Bangued, Abra 15 – – 22 Arturo Tolentino Hector Gomez Antonio Albert – 1935 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Conchita Chuidian Sunico Catalina Zabala Julieta Lugod Abad Celia Araullo Binondo, Manila – – – 18 – – – Antonio Bayot Pedro Chanco Jr. Jose Feliciano Jose Zamora Carmen del Rosario was the original Miss Mindanao. She reigned for a few days before relinquishing her title in favor of her studies. Celia Araullo was chosen in her place as Miss Mindanao. 1936 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Mercedes Montilla Amparo Reyes Karagdag Helen Cutaran Bennett Cleofe Jaime Balingit Kabankalan, Negros Occidental Malolos, Bulacan Nueva Vizcaya Macabebe, Pampanga 20 20 24 – Zafiro Ledesma Ricardo Manotok Francisco Chanco Ricardo Paras 1937 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Carmen Zaldarriaga Elisa Manalo Sonia Ortaliz Gamboa Adelaida Coscolluela Manila Pampanga Silay, Negros Occidental Negros Occidental 17 – – – Col. Antonio Arnaiz – – – Manila Carnival is now called as Philippine Exposition. Another Miss Philippines marrying her king consort later. 1938 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Guia Gonzales Balmori Rosario Ferro Belen de Guzman Marina Lopez Pampanga / Pangasinan – – – 17 – – – Ernesto Santos – – – 1939 Miss Philippines Miss Luzon Miss Visayas Miss Mindanao Iluminada Tuason Estrella Santos Fabon Adela Planas Herminia Cajulis Indang, Cavite – – Binakayan, Cavite – – – 20 – – – – The last Manila Carnival or Philippine Exposition to take place few years before World War II. The last carnival queen to be crowned.

National Beauty Contest

These are the candidates for the national beauty contests of the Manila Carnival.

1st National Beauty Contest