Bathing suits in the early 1900s looked much different than what is seen on the beach in Ocean City today.
Men were never seen without a top and in most cases the trunks extended below the knee. Women were so encased in fabric that once in the water their swimwear could weigh in excess of 10 pounds. Since most women of that era did not know how to swim, this was not the problem it would be today. Women – and some men – went into the ocean holding on to a rope anchored about 15 yards offshore. Because they usually went in on low tide and rarely got wet above the waist they were known as “fanny dippers.”
The image is from a postcard dated 1912; it was photographed on the Boardwalk near N. Division Street in front of the old Mt. Pleasant Hotel.
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