Two Miss New Jersey winners have gone on to hold the title of Miss America: Bette Cooper who won in 1937 and Suzette Charles who did not win, but took over the title for the last 7 weeks of Vanessa Williams's reign in 1984.
[1][2] On December 26, 2018; MAO reinstated the license for the Miss New Jersey organization for one year, contingent on leadership changes and the recruitment of new sponsors and board members.
In Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "American Pastoral", the central character Seymour "Swede" Levov marries Dawn Dwyer, an Irish Catholic winner of Miss New Jersey 1949, from nearby Elizabeth, whom he met at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey.
In the Drake & Josh episode "Vicious Tiberius", the boys find out their teacher, Mrs. Hayfer, was the winner of Miss New Jersey 1976 while house sitting for her.
[citation needed] The winner of the 1957 pageant is mentioned by title in the Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver.