National Sweetheart

Miss National Sweetheart is a United States beauty pageant created in 1941 where runners-up from the Miss America state pageants are invited to Hoopeston, Illinois to compete for the title of Miss National Sweetheart.

The event, which has no official ties to the Miss America Organization, is sponsored by the Hoopeston Jaycees and is held on Labor Day weekend in conjunction with the town's revered annual Sweetcorn Festival. Most contestants placed first runner-up in their state pageant, however second and other runners-up are invited if the first runner-up chooses not to attend. The winner of the Miss National Sweetheart title receives a $1,200 scholarship and a pendant shaped like an ear of corn.

Winning this title does not guarantee that a contestant will win a Miss America state title, but since 1980, five Miss National Sweetheart winners have gone on to win both their state and the Miss America title. A few have won state titles in different states from those they represented at Miss National Sweetheart.

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