 Beginning in 1953, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce held the first local San Francisco Miss Chinatown Pageant together with the Chinese New Year Festival to select a festival queen; prior festival queens include Pat Kan (1953, daughter of restaurateur Johnny Kan), Bernice Woong (1954), Carolyn Lim (1955), Estelle Dong (1956), and Ruby Kwong (1957).Once the pageant became more popular, the contest opened up to women throughout the U.S.A.The first Miss Chinatown pageant was held on February 15, 1958 at the Great China Theater.