By Kathy Arlt, contributing writer @ Blogfinger (Re-posted from its original date of June, 2011. Play it again, Sam. And that’s a fine kettle of fish.)
Victorians were big believers in the curative effects of fresh air and ocean bathing, but a day at the beach was a lot different for them than it is for us. For one thing, there were those bathing suits…made out of wool—WOOL!—and covering the body from head to toe. Just imagine hitting the beach on a 90-degree day in one of these suits. Maybe that’s why no one in this group looks too happy:
Or maybe they’re wondering how many other people may have worn the suit that’s now covering their body, because it was common in the 1870’s to rent bathing suits.
And what did the Victorians do when they got to the beach in their rented woolen bathing suits? Well, they didn’t swim—very few people knew how to swim back then, even if they could maneuver through the ocean currents in a woolen bathing suit—and they certainly didn’t surf. They clung to ropes in order to obtain the ocean’s benefits, as this illustration shows: (from Woolman and Rose, “Atlas of the Jersey Coast 1878,” Ross Bathing Houses, Joseph Ross, proprietor, Ocean Grove, NJ)
From the show DAMES AT SEA:
There were few fibers in the 19th century and wool was surprisingly the premium material for bathing suits. The cotton of the era would loosen in water and cause embarrassing situations.
Women had to wear stockings with their suits in OG until 1926. In 1932, they were given the option of wearing white suits instead of just black or navy blue.
Topless men on the beach were prohibited in many places and in OG until about 1939. Even then, males could not go without shirts in the rest of the town as late as the 1970s.
Too bad Kathy is gone, because she wrote wonderful articles about history for us.
Lately we are grateful for the contributions of David Fox who has a wing at the Historical Society named for him. And soon the group will have a new President.
Hopefully that change in management might find a new “Kathy” to send our way. At Blogfinger we hope to post more articles about OG history, but we need some more sources.