bathers
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Manliest Beauty 1877
“Now then, Mossoo, your Form is of the Manliest Beauty, and you are altogether a most attractive Object; but you’ve stood there long enough. So jump in and have done with it!”
Cartoon by George du Maurier from Punch. (He was also the father of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and grandfather of the five boys who inspired J.M. Barrie‘s Peter Pan, fact fans!)
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Aquatic party
“Members of the Brighton Swimming Club entertain the crowds gathered on Brighton’s West Pier by holding a tea party on a wooden raft. (The Graphic, 1881). Some of the men swim out to the raft, but others attempt to reach the refreshments by riding wooden horses made from barrels. The man on the raft pouring the tea is believed to be John Hawgood (1844-1896), a clothier and furniture dealer of North Road, Brighton. Hawgood was a local swimming champion who went on to become the Honorary Secretary of the Brighton Swimming Club in 1886. The Aquatic Tea Party at Brighton was a traditional event that had been staged near the West Pier since the 1860s. For instance, a Brighton newspaper informed the public that on 3rd August, 1868, “Captain Camp (John Henry Camp ), the one-legged swimmer, will prepare and partake of breakfast on the water“.”
Again, I could see the hipsters of Brighton still doing this! More info here. -
Brighton Bathers 1891
Members of the Brighton Swimming Club photographed by Norman & Co. outside their club-house at No..231 King’s Road Arches in March 1891.
More info here, again thanks to Duckie for the site tip.
P.S. The guy standing on one leg in the previous photo – is that him on the back row, second left? -
Brighton Bathers 1863
An amazingly informal early photo of the Brighton Swimming Club c. 1863. probably by Benjamin William Botham. Funny thing is hipsters still pull funny poses like that one guy in Brighton, 150 years later…I suspect he was trying to do an ‘Indian’ or Buddhist/yoga pose – which seems incongruous for the time but as the site explains, it otherwise seems genuine.
More info here. (thanks to Duckie for the tip)