She first came to public attention after winning Motion Picture Magazine's Fame and Fortune Contest in 1920, upon which she was deemed the "most beautiful girl in America."

[4] Palmer also had a cosmetic line named after her featuring Peach Bloom Face Powder, created by the Wilton Chemical Company in New York City,[3] and also appeared on the cover of Beauty, a women's magazine.

[3] She made her film debut in the short From Farm to Fame, documenting her public notoriety after winning the contest, followed by an acting role in Her Second Chance (1926).

[4] After her divorce, Palmer became an alcoholic, and on January 31, 1933, was committed to a hospital in San Francisco under the pseudonym Edith Mason,[9] a name she had adopted in an attempt to revitalize her film career.

[10] It was noted in a March 12, 1933 article in the Portsmouth Daily Times that Palmer "had been drinking steadily for several days," and the hospital staff "feared she might harm herself or set fire to her room.