When a vendor for the 20th Century Cincinnati trade show dropped out unexpectedly in 2021, Lyda Lewis got a last-minute shot at being a replacement. “It was always my dream to be a part of this show,” says Lewis, a dealer of vintage costume jewelry who’s a native of Maysville, Kentucky.
The annual selling extravaganza for Mid-Century Modern (MCM) and Art Deco furniture, décor, art, and fashion, which fills the Sharonville Convention Center each February, is the Midwest’s premiere happening for all things vintage. Think 70 vendors and 4,000 attendees over a single weekend. “I was the peon vendor of the show in this tiny booth,” Lewis recalls of her debut there four years ago. “I’m just this little nobody.”
The public begged to differ, mobbing her nook for rhinestone brooches, chunky pendants, hoop earrings, and all things heart-shaped. Lewis’s offerings—many from nostalgic department store brands such as Miriam Haskell, Monet, and Trifari—started at a mere $6.
The sisters who direct the 20th Century show also push back on Lewis’s claim of modesty. “She was the first African-American Miss Kentucky,” gushes Jenni Button, who stages the event with her sister, Jess.
It’s true. In 1973, Lewis was the third Black woman to win a state regional in the Miss America pageant and the first African American contender to win in Kentucky or the South in general. “It was wonderful,” she recalls of her historic pageant triumph and the opportunities that resulted. “A bunch of us sang and danced in USO shows that went to Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. I knew that as an elementary schoolteacher [which she became after graduating from college] I wouldn’t be able to do that.”
The crown and sash aren’t the only illustrious aspects of Lewis’s half-century (and counting) career. She modeled in New York and, after marrying and returning to Kentucky, bred race horses.
When times were flush, her taste for fine jewelry was informed by simply owning a lot of it. She divorced in the late 1980s, however, and needed to start supporting herself. She got a job at a spa booking appointments and curating the bling for its small boutique. Her wealthy clients wanted cubic zirconia replicas of their real diamond jewelry for safe vacation travel, so Lewis designed pieces and took them to New York’s Diamond District to be custom cut and polished. They were such a hit that more and more spas ordered pieces.
Later, when Lewis relocated to Cincinnati, she worked in a string of jewelry stores, always moving up the chain of command. “I was a little workaholic,” she says.

Meanwhile, family members had troves of costume jewelry they consigned with Lewis to sell on the side, and she began setting up booths at regional antique shows in 2010. Her background in upscale jewelry stores set her apart. “My booth looks more like a retail store, not a flea market booth,” she says. “Every item has a price and a description. I know where everything is and exactly how much I paid for it, so if someone wants a deal I know how much I can take off the price without losing money.”
One display item you won’t find in any other store or booth are photos of the dealer wearing a rhinestone crown. Lewis uses them to intrigue customers at her 20th Century Cincinnati booth. So why not wear the vintage headpiece (“a lot of rhinestones on a rhodium metal base”) atop her head while working? “Those crowns are heavy,” she says, laughing. “My hair is thinner now. How the hell would I keep it on?”
Asked why she doesn’t at least display the crown in a case on a pillow, as she did at Duck Creek Antique Mall until it closed in 2015, Lewis shrugs. “Maybe I will,” she teases about the upcoming show. “Do you think people would like that?”
20th Century Cincinnati runs February 21-23 at the Sharonville Convention Center. Get tickets and info here.
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