More to contestors than meets the eye
Those contest winners that Evelyn meets toward the end were a group of bright women earning money and material goods at a time women were not encouraged to work out of the phone. All of those smarts were kept in their homes instead of earning money and benefits. Then, the contests declined or were dumbed down. You wonder how they filled the gap as most white (as opposed to pink) collar jobs were still closed to women. By pasting S & H Greenstamps into books?
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne