6/16/11

Ship shape AT THE SHORE


Last week, on Sepia Saturday, I featured photos from a trip two fellows, Bill and Dick, took across the United States in 1914. This week I begin with another photo from that album, then, using the theme of going to the beach/coast/shore, I give you a variety of folks having fun in the sun.

This first shot was taken on May 16th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. That is Dick in the cart. The journal entry says that you could rent one of these carts for 30 cents an hour. It's depressing to think about.


I remember going to Atlantic City as a child. I fondly remember the boardwalk and the beach; I have no recollection of people being pushed in carts.

The rest of these are nothing more than glimpses of past beachwear from the early 20th century to the late 1950s or early '60s.















And last, but certainly not least...I just don't know. Prison uniforms, cult, or beachwear? I'm thinking if these outfits got wet they took a very long time to dry and could easily take you down in a riptide. What would they think of the beachwear today?

23 comments:

  1. That is a nice collection of beach wear. I am really curious about the last photo.

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  2. Great pictures, I love the bathing belles and the little boys by the car looking so cheeky, some things never change!

    I've just one swimsuit at the moment and have recently been on holiday. I sometimes had to put it on damp - I can only imagine what the old suits would have been like when water-logged!

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  3. A fine collection of beachwear. In the last picture one man is wearing glasses and another a bow tie - I'm even more confused. Prisoners of fashion perhaps?

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  4. Some great pictures there - particularly like the first one of the man in the cart - so unusual looking.

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  5. I Would Sink With All That Clothing In The Final Photo!

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  6. That last photo is just extraordinary. I'm wondering if they were perhaps patients at some sort of hospital or asylum? How bizarre.

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  7. Great preview of the past at the beach. Those little carts that one got pushed around in was always a fascination to me. One just was too rich to walk or what.

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  8. On the last photograph, I've seen one's like it before. I'm fairly certain that it's from a European health spa like Marienbad or Baden-Baden. Guests would split thier time between bathing in the mineralized waters, either in large pools or small individual tubs, breathing in the vapors in special inhalation rooms, and drinking the waters. There were also some spas in the United States, Hot Springs in Arkansas being a good example. The spas often had neo-classical architecture...lots of stome columns like the ones in the picture.

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  9. Glad to know all are equally as confused as me with the final photo. I did post it a few years ago and nobody has ever stepped forward with definitive information about what might be going on.

    WJY, you might be right. Perhaps it was some sort of spa that issued these bizarre outfits. There's actually one north of me that Mark Twain used to visit. We have nothing on the scale of the ones in Germany which I believed are still used.

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  10. I'm fascinated by the first photograph - Dick in the cart, being pushed in an ornate wicker cart for 30c an hour. Was it exploitative compared to the standards of the day? Dick looks like an old maid and the guy pushing the cart looks very dapper. This is not from a segregated southern state but from New Jersey. I wonder if the cart pusher thought this may have been a pretty easy job. Most people were poorly paid back then. Who knows?

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  11. Howard,

    I don't have any answers for you. I can tell you I chose not to include the journal entry page out of respect for the man doing the labor. Bill's reference to the fellow is offensive and upsetting. The man deserves more respect from history.

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  12. I enjoyed the fashion parade of beachwear. The Jean Harlow lookalike is wearing a similar costume to Mary in my post, probaby from the same era. The Atlantic City picture is interesting as it adds another dimension to what we’eve picked up from watching ‘’Boardwalk Empire’ on TV, which is set in the same era, following WW1. You could almost publish a book on the beachwear alone- I’d buy it!

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  13. Little Nell, that's a good idea. I'll have to keep an eye out for more images to add to this category. Right now I'm working on a book of what I'm calling "Unusual" images. Images that are funny or just plain odd. Images that don't really fall into any category easily.

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  14. My favorite is the 3 little boys looking like they are raring to get to the water....what a fine collection of photos...

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  15. This is almost like a historic timeline of swimwear fashions! The last photo is very interesting. I hope, if you ever discover definitively where these people are, that you'll post the photo again. You have such a great collection of old photographs!

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  16. Nancy, thank you. I actually did post the final shot a few years ago. Nobody has ever stepped forward to give any information. I'm afraid these oddly dressed folks are lost to time.

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  17. Nancy, thank you. I actually did post the final shot a few years ago. Nobody has ever stepped forward to give any information. I'm afraid these oddly dressed folks are lost to time.

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  18. Great photos! It's amazing to see how much things have changed in a relatively short space of time.

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  19. The first photo of the cart is depressing. Looks like a heavy cart to push.

    the last photo is intriguing. wish i could help identify it!

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  20. What a wonderful collection of photos. I'm ever so grateful for the swimsuit fashions today I cant imagine trying to swim in some of the ones in the photos, or sit in the hot sun and enjoy myself.
    Another great post! Thank you for sharing it with us

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  21. A super summer grouping. All are great but the adventures of Bill and Dick just add more fascinating questions. Does he really need a lap robe?

    The last is a rare treat. I like the spa fashion idea. The caps seem more suited to a health institution than outdoors at the seaside. They also look like one-size fits all as provided by the spa.

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  22. if THAT is beachwear, the drowned, the whole lot of them!!!
    :D~
    HUGZ

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  23. Those little boys in their one-piece suits are adorable. I'm also fascinated by the women with their cigarettes. While some of the swimwear may appear ridiculous, I am guessing that it is no more ridiculous than today's.

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