Before the Bikini: Rare Vintage Beach Photos

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Beach vacations started as early as the late 1800s after railroads became a viable source of transportation, according to Victoriana Magazine. Swimwear consisted of fully covered gowns and bloomers that revealed very little. Although the sun’s harmful UV rays were an unknown danger at the time, this conservative beachwear would have provided a good deal of protection. By the early 1900s, beach resorts were becoming a popular destination. But water activities such as swimming and diving were a burden due to the bulky Victorian-style swimsuits, especially for the women, the magazine reports. Thus, by the 1920s, fitted swimwear that modestly conformed to the body became a part of beach fashion. Susan Sessions Rugh, an American history professor at Brigham Young University, points out that as the years passed, swimsuits became smaller and smaller.

over 350 old timey photos of what beach life used to look like before modern swim wear and as i am very interested in history i found this to be quite interesting from the old school bathing machines to the funny hats and also of interest is some of the architecture you can see in the backgrounds but mostly i posted this because i like old timey photos and old photography is one of my interests.

i think this is the correct forum but i had trouble figuring out which would be the best for this material of further note to some of our australian members is the picture that is 34 showing Australian life guards at work. i know its alot of photos but they are really interesting hope you all enjoy the link

I love old pics like this --- but this one's got my curiosity for sure!

reply to post by RalagaNarHallas


In some ways less modest then todays suit! What I always find interesting is the change in what is considered the perfect figure from decade to decade! everything that is considered perfect or beautiful each year is steered by fashion designers and followers.

Circa 1910: Young women play cricket on the beach at Swansea. (Chapman/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

That photo is probably the equivalent of todays volleyball beauties today.

reply to post by the_philth


thank you for your reply,that beach does indeed look strange as i have not been on a beach like that in my life,also its kind of funny to see the transition from the 1920's to the late 70's in all the images and how beach technology changed i did not expect to see inflatable sharks on the beach in the late 50's

if you had to guess what kind of beach material is that (looks like shells are big rocks to me mostly)

reply to post by the_philth


I was unable to get these to show up on here, I see you were able to!

reply to post by Char-Lee


yeah its almost a time line of how people have changed their views on modesty and perception of beauty over the years,in one of the latter photos i was surprised to see a police officer actually measuring a girls swim suit in Miami of all places...as today that kind of thing would not even happen,its also interesting to see some of the cool outfits that were the norm back then thank you for your reply

And the women back then were curvaciously yummy to boot!

Thanks Thread Starter for providing this!

Ess & Eff for you!

Originally posted by Char-Lee
reply to post by RalagaNarHallas

 

In some ways less modest then todays suit! What I always find interesting is the change in what is considered the perfect figure from decade to decade! everything that is considered perfect or beautiful each year is steered by fashion designers and followers.

Circa 1910: Young women play cricket on the beach at Swansea. (Chapman/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

That photo is probably the equivalent of todays volleyball beauties today.

In the old, old days, nobody went to the beach for recreation. Sailors went to the sea to sail or fish for food, but most people stayed away from the beach and the water because you could easily drown and it was full of dangerous monsters. And they were right!

Originally posted by Blue Shift
In the old, old days, nobody went to the beach for recreation. Sailors went to the sea to sail or fish for food, but most people stayed away from the beach and the water because you could easily drown and it was full of dangerous monsters. And they were right!

So true, often sailors could not swim. My Mother and her sisters never learned to swim, only the boy in the family.

reply to post by Blue Shift


i think that is why in some photos you see some flotation devices being carried by some of those in the photos.also on the topic of danger you can see that even ww2 did not stop some beach goers in the united kingdom thank you for your reply

reply to post by the_philth


thank you for embedding those photos i can handle youtube videos but some how i can never quite figure out how to add images thank you for your contribution

Originally posted by the_philth
And the women back then were curvaciously yummy to boot!

Thanks Thread Starter for providing this!

Ess & Eff for you!

Ladies that were as thin as today would have been considered unattractive in those days. I notice a lot of cellulite or dimpling as they didn't go in for women having muscle.

And remember when flat chests was the style! Wow with implants I hope the style does not go there! Going to be some unhappy women!

Studly guys were short and skinny!

The cute little girl in the right looks like someone we know....


ALERT !.......TIME TRAVELLER !!!!

I cannot get enough of the old school photographs and the history that accompanies them.

Here is a link to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of older photographs...

I hope you all enjoy, www.shorpy.com...

S&F
Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by RalagaNarHallas
i think that is why in some photos you see some flotation devices being carried by some of those in the photos.also on the topic of danger you can see that even ww2 did not stop some beach goers in the united kingdom thank you for your reply

I'm talking about the old, old days of 1,000 to 2,000 years ago. King Henry VIII wasn't doing any swimming. If you went to the beach to lounge or swim, people would have thought you were insane.

reply to post by Char-Lee


I also notice in all of those pictures that there were no blondes!! Guess being a blonde hair in a bikini wasn't popular either.

reply to post by Iwinder


thank you for that link i been browsing it for about an hour now some really good shots in their thank you again for this link and for contributing to the thread

Those barrel screenette things were hilarious where the women could undress on the beach!
Notice how many wore shoes on the beach and bonnets. I love looking at antique photos! very interesting!

Originally posted by RalagaNarHallas
reply to post by Iwinder

 

thank you for that link i been browsing it for about an hour now some really good shots in their thank you again for this link and for contributing to the thread

You are welcome and thanks to you for starting this thread, I find this kind of photogenic history fascinating.

Regards, Iwinder