[delt]

There were two nudist clubs in northeast Indiana, one was open to anyone and had a nude restaurant that truckers liked, and another was a more ASA type family oriented nudist club. The second one saw the big bucks the first one was making with Nudes-A-Poppin, and began its own Miss Nude USA contest. Both invited media and allowed photographers but only on the days of the contests. The Ponderosa was a nice club every day but the day of the contest when it was a zoo. The other club was a zoo every day with poorly maintained, filthy facilities and what my wife and I felt was more for "professional" girls who worked the truckers. She refused to go to either one when the contests were running because you were going to be in the photos, even if you didn't undress. You could still be in the background.

Both advertised in Chicago and Indianapolis for strippers and others to appear for "big prizes" and the honor of being Miss Nude whatever. This was a good draw if you were a stripper and some, like Holly Montana, built it into a good business going around to strip clubs for years before she retired. Being Miss Nude America was a big draw.

Almost all nudist clubs back then had contests for women, girls, boys, men and families, and these photos were often in the ASA monthly bulletin sent to ASA members. (The American Sunbathing Association is now called the American Association for Nude Recreation, the AANR). My wife was in a few of the contests and enjoyed strutting around with everyone looking at her, but she did not like the photos that appeared in nudist publications. You don't see these types of contests at nudist clubs like you used to. I am not sure why.

I used to kid my wife that it was a shame that these Miss Nudist Club type contests never had a talent segment, but she could not demonstrate her best talent there unless they had chrome exhaust pipes available.