Excellent site. I do, however, wish to take exception to one of the conclusions concerning the authenticity of the pictures. Under the category of Teams, item 4 Girls with Bares appears to show several nude males behind a row of female swimmers. The moderator went neutral on this. I found this a few years ago, did a reverse image search and found it was the University of Virginia’s swim team 1976-77. The original image shows the guys in suits; the guy on the left, in fact, is wearing trunks with a loud striped pattern that stands out. Unfortunately, I no longer have the url; the internet is often compared to a library, but books don’t change their titles, urls frequently disappear. I do, however, have a screen shot of the original, and if anyone wants it, post a request. Live long and prosper!
Hello Glyph, I just came across this site – really great job. Fake pictures are a problem in many areas, I am convinced that there are now more fake than real pictures on the Internet for some topics. This is probably also true for the topic of nude swimming in the USA. I have experienced this myself: I was a 16 year old European exchange student in 1982 at two high schools in Illinois and Wisconsin and we boys had to swim naked at both schools without exception. That was probably the final phase of nude swimming at US schools. From what I have seen and experienced at that time, I dare to say that many pictures are fakes at first sight. You can tell by the following simple points:
Thanks for the items you sent along via e-mail, Rinaldo. I’ve posted them for the group. Your recollection is interesting and adds context to how this practice gradually disappeared from US schools. My Yearbook page shows New Trier’s swim team was wearing suits – at least for their pictures – in the 1950s. I suspect that there was a two tiered (no pun intended) system in place – nude in gym, suited for the team. Glyph
Some thoughts on 17A Breezy Day and 17B Picnic on the Lake in the Off Topic session. There is a third image in this series which consists of the mustachioed man (who is nude) and the swimsuited woman and no one else. He has a mischievous look on his face and is snuggled up against the woman, which suggests to me he is her husband or boyfriend and not her father. I’m guessing these are from the ’70s: the boys’ hair length suggests late ’60s at the earliest, and the woman’s modest swimsuit (full hip coverage, very low leg openings) suggests something dated. Of course, the question for these images (like the other Off Topics) is, who took the pictures? My wild guess is the husband of the fully clothed woman.
What a beautiful site! I’m not sure if you have any of these or are interested as they are not American, but they are historical regarding nude swimming. Here is an article with pictures of Russian Tsar Nikolai II Romanov swimming nude with other men:
