The Powder Puff Derby was the name given to an annual transcontinental air race for women pilots inaugurated in 1947. For the next two years it was named the "Jacqueline Cochran All-Woman Transcontinental Air Race" (AWTAR). It was dubbed the "Powder Puff Derby" in reference to the 1929 Women's Air Derby by humorist and aviation advocate Will Rogers.
In 1977, rising costs, insurance premiums, and diminished corporate sponsorship saw the competition come to an end after thirty years. After the commemorative final flight, the Air Race Classic continued the tradition for women pilots.
Read about the original race in: Powder Puff Derby of 1929: The True Story of the First Women's Cross-Country Air Race Gene Nora Jessen, 2002
Famous quotes containing the words powder and/or puff:
“Any gentleman with the slightest chic will give a girl a fifty dollar bill for the powder room.”
—George Axelrod (1922)
“Just as petals fall from drying garlands, which you can see aimlessly swimming in wine-bowls are we lovers, who now puff up our chests, but perhaps tomorrow the fateful day will shut us down.”
—Propertius Sextus (c. 50–16 B.C.)