Saturday, June 11, 2016

THE GANG...

More than one hundred years ago, The Gang assembled for a group shot on the public dock in East Boothbay, Maine; they all summered in cottages strung along the shores of Murray Hill overlooking Linekin Bay, all learned to swim in those freezing waters, all spent lazy high-tide afternoons diving and jumping off the public dock, keeping cool.
         Two of those young men in the back row are relatives of mine--the last two on the right are my great-uncles, Richard and Allen. And I’m pretty sure that one of the boys in the front row is my great-uncle Prescott, although I can’t tell which one. Furthermore, I'll bet the photo was taken by my grandfather, who should be in the picture...but isn't.
          The two women? I’m not sure. The one on the far left might be Jessie Gould (a cousin)—I’m basing that guess on the gold bracelet she’s wearing on her left arm (I have one, too; given to me by my father on my twenty-first birthday)—but the one on the right is totally unknown.

But look at the swimwear!
          My grandfather told me once that those bathing suits were made of wool.
          Wool!
I can’t imagine.
          He said the “itch factor” was sky-high—not while they were in the water, but when they were out—and they spent most of their time trying not to scratch in inappropriate places!
          I love the pale, skinny legs and the combination of brown forearms and white upper arms—the boys obviously rolled their shirtsleeves in the summer…
          And look at Richard’s striped number! Clearly, the height of men’s fashion in the early 1900s. Allen’s wearing white bottoms, which might be another fashion trend.


I can’t imagine my great-grandmother going for that bit of foolishness!

12 comments:

  1. My Mom said those wool bathing suits itched like crazy. I believe wool was used because it shed water to some degree, and tended to hold its shape when wet. Still, I can't imagine trying to actually swim in what the women had to wear. All they could really do in those things is play around in the water.

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    1. That or drown. They weighed a TON when wet!

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  2. There's so much to look at in this photo, Deb. It's always fun to me to pull apart a photo and look at all the details. I remember that my mother (born in 1915) had a wool swimsuit that she probably wore in her 20s. I can't imagine why they would have chosen wool but maybe it was because it absorbed water without getting too heavy. And I suppose it may have been a little more modest than cotton. No polyester, spandex, lycra in those days!

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    1. Modesty is underrated, as far as I'm concerned -- bring back a little of it, please!

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  3. Your two great uncles look quite modern really, in their singlets and shorts, but it seems strange to have the women sitting cross-legged.

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    1. What's interesting to me is that the men are showing more skin than the women...the women have stockings on, for crying out loud! No wonder they didn't swim much...must have been uncomfortable!

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  4. You've got a special treasure for sure. It's refreshing to see families at play instead of the usual static formal studio photographs. And if I know boys, the two in the front are not happy to have their picture taken.

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    1. I agree, Mike -- they're at that intensely self-conscious age and aren't happy with their own bodies...poor little guys!

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  5. I can't even imagine swimming in wool! Ugh!

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    1. Oh, I know, Jodi! It's pretty awful to contemplate, isn't it? I'll stick with whatever-it-is my suit is made of now...light, comfortable.

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  6. I always imagine what these suits were like when wet. The weight alone must have been uncomfortable. And then the smell of them drying...echhhhh.

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    1. Oh, goodness -- do you remember what your wet wool mittens and socks smelled like in winter when they were draped all over the radiators to dry? Yikes!

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