Beach days are the best. You gather all your friends, pack a cooler, and get ready for some serious fun in the sun. As it turns out, beach days throughout history didn’t look so different from ours – the bathing suits definitely had a little more coverage, though.
These 38 vintage photographs of people on beaches from all over the world capture the spirit of summer and surf, even though they’re in black in white. Check out the photos below – #8 is awkward
#38. Men pose in vintage diver’s equipment on the beach in the 1940’s.
![38](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 665 509'%2F%3E)
#37. Actor Burr McIntosh as “Father Neptune.” His performance was part of the Neptune Electrical Extravaganza in Long Beach, 1933.
![37](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 695 945'%2F%3E)
#36. What Coney Island looked like in the 1940s.
![36](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 687 981'%2F%3E)
#35. Vacationers wearing stripped one-piece swimsuits on a beach in Belgium.
![35](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#34. Ladies doing a goofy kickline in the 1930s.
![34](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 708 506'%2F%3E)
#33. A group of guys looking tough on the beach in 1915.
![33](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 710 599'%2F%3E)
#32. Four gals ride donkeys on the beach at Blackpool, England in 1936.
![32](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#31. Children in a tent on the beach at Clacton, in Essex, England in 1912.
![31](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#30. Bodybuilder (and Mr. Los Angeles contestant) Ed Holovchik with model Jackie Coey in 1953.
![30](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 657 671'%2F%3E)
#29. Bathing beauties in 1915.
![29](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 703 534'%2F%3E)
#28. Claire Anderson and Rose Carter having girl time in 1918.
![28](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 665 554'%2F%3E)
#27. Rita Hayworth, Patricia Farr, and an inexplicable smoking penguin,sometime in the 1930s.
![27](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 684 622'%2F%3E)
#26. Ms. Lila Lee, looking ravishing in the 1920s.
![26](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 732 954'%2F%3E)
#25. Wading around in the water at Ostend in Belgium, 1911.
![25](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#24. Riding bikes on the beach in Copenhagen, Denmark.
![24](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 715 497'%2F%3E)
#23. Virginia Warwick, Harriet Hammond, and Phyllis Haver, lounging on rocks by the sea.
![23](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 697 551'%2F%3E)
#22. Acrobats doing their thing on the beach in the 1930s.
![22](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 729 964'%2F%3E)
#21. German beachgoers letting it all hang out.
![21](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 697 446'%2F%3E)
#20. Bathing beauties paddling around the shores of Essex.
![20](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#19. Mary Lawler & Dorothy McNulty getting tricky in 1930.
![19](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 719 533'%2F%3E)
#18. Anita Ekberg in an amazing portrait.
![18](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 685 889'%2F%3E)
#17. Bathing suit styles were so cute in the 1950s.
![17](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 697 769'%2F%3E)
#16. Ginger Rogers, looking like a queen.
![16](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 720 534'%2F%3E)
#15. Two girls take an excellent shot with beach balls at Worthing Beach in Sussex, England.
![15](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#14. Young women playing a game of baseball on a beach in Miami, Florida.
![14](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#13. A group of women are seen dragging men into the sea during a vacation at the Isle of Wight.
![13](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#12. A cute group photo by the beach.
![12](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 707 530'%2F%3E)
#11. Sailors from HMS Fury on the beach in New Jersey hanging with a couple of beach babes.
![11](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#10. Four female vacationers playing with a ball in England in 1936.
![10](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#9. Bathers enjoying a cup of tea on the beach in Devon, England.
![9](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#8. Women wear large headpieces on Venice Beach.
![8](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 662 524'%2F%3E)
#7. Helen Howell and the Lalvi dancers in 1930, on break from their show at the London Palladium.
![7](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#6. A group of women exercising on the beach with swim bars in 1935
![6](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#5. Two women in swimwear take photographs. If they were doing this today, those photos would have totally gone on Instagram.
![5](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#4. Bathers collecting seaweed on the beach in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire.
![4](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#3. Bathers undress using the ‘skreenette’ on a public beach in 1929.
![3](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#2. In 1929, American actress Bebe Daniels was photographed at her home with actor Ben Lyon.
![2](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
#1. Swimmers in Littlehampton practice swimming technique before heading into the water in 1935.
![1](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 980 551'%2F%3E)
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