Eleanor Kay Kinner Curtis,
a Utah Deaf Model
Jodi Becker Kinner
2019
2019
Eleanor Kay Kinner
It is believed that Eleanor Kay Kinner, commonly known as "Kay" is the first Deaf person in Utah and nation who became a model. She was 5'9 tall and slender. She had an eye for fashion and design, which is evident in the way she dressed, as indicates in the sideshow. She also enjoyed creating her own designs. Her CODA daughter, Rebecca Curtis Larsen, believes Kay would have more opportunities with modeling and fashion had she been hearing.
Because of Kay’s beauty, she loved to pose in pictures. During her senior year at the Utah School for the Deaf, Kay modeled for the Auerbach's department store. This is one of the best design clothing stores in Ogden, Utah. She also had posed for many pictures while modeling different clothes in Collins/Morris Photography.
In April 1953, Kay was on the front cover of the Utah Eagle magazine, a printing magazine for the Utah School for the Deaf.
Rebecca had described that discrimination from encouraging the Deaf to seek out "unlikely" careers was much more prevalent during the 1940s and 1950s. Being a woman in Utah during that time would have also been a barrier. If Kay were a graduating senior today, Rebecca thinks she would have had more opportunities to pursue a modeling career.
Enjoy viewing the pictures of Kay modeling in the 1940s and 1950s clothing styles!
Kay & her twin brother, Kenneth, 1954 Utah School for the Deaf graduates
A Slideshow of Eleanor Kay Kinner Modeling
Note
Rebecca Curtis Larsen, personal communication, March 11, 2019.
Rebecca Curtis Larsen, personal communication, March 11, 2019.