In 1870 a rcponer for Leslie's, who was describing 

 two elegant large bathhouses (the type described 

 above) in New York City, stated that Mondays, 

 Wednesdays, and Fridays were set apart lor ladies 

 and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for gentle- 

 men. These baths became quite popular in the large 

 cities, particularly among people who could not 

 afford the time or money to make trips even to the 

 near seaside resorts. By the 1880s they were so popular 

 that bathing time was scheduled to allow many sets 

 of bathers to enjoy the water. Thus a nimiber of 

 women who had probably never been completely 

 covered with water before had the o]}portunity tcj 

 learn to swim. 



While women were being encom'aged to practice 

 swimming as a healthful exercise, this activity was 

 being recognized as a recreation and sport for men. 

 The increasing affluence during the last three decades 

 of the 19th century, which made possible the wide- 

 spread popularity of summer excursions, encouraged 

 swimming as an individual pastime as well as a 

 growing spectator sport. This was true not only for 

 swimming but for nearly every sport we enjoy today. 

 In 1871 a reporter wrote: 



It is not underrating the interest attached to yachting or 

 rowing matches, to say that swimming clubs and swim- 

 ming matches can be made to create wider and more 

 useful emulation among "the Million" who can never 

 participate in or benefit by those notable trials of skill 

 and muscle.-'' 



By the 1890s this growing interest in spectator and 

 individual sports evidenced several interesting results. 

 Separate sporting pages were established in the formats 

 of many newspapers. In addition to being a smumer 

 pastime, "the art of swimming" became an inter- 

 collegiate and Olympic sport, and was included on 

 the roster of events for the 1896 re\i\al of the Olympic 

 Games held in Athens. Innovations in facilities and 

 techniques helped to alter the character of swinnning. 

 The most notable of these were the development of 

 the indoor pool and the introductions of the crawl 

 stroke into the United States. 



It was in this time period that swimming for women 

 was becoming socially acceptable. In 1888, Goucher 

 Gollege, a prominent girls' school, built its own indoor 

 pool and the following year swimming was listed in 

 its catalog for the first time. Writers, in turn, no longer 

 felt it necessarv to convince readers ihal women should 



-''•> Ibid. (July 29, 1»71), vol. 32, no. H2li. p. :!22. 



p.\PER b4: women's b.-\thing .and swimming 



be more active in the water, but concentrated instead 

 on what a woman should know- when she .swims. This 

 changing attitude gained world-wide recognition in 

 1912 at Stockholm when the 100-nieter swinnning 

 event for women was included in the schedule. 



The period of prosperity following World War I 

 brought a marked increase in the appreciation of 

 recreation, resulting in an increa,se of swimming pools 

 and available beaches. Indoor pools, which made 

 swinnning a year-round activity, were becoming even 

 more mimerous than beaches. Swimming was now 

 established as a .sport and a recreation for both men 

 and woiuen. According to a 1924 magazine article in 

 the Delineator, seldom was a swimming meet held 

 anywhere in the country without events for women. 

 At Palm Beach, however, one of the few remaining 

 citadels of "high society," an axiom of fashion dictated 

 that a lady or gentleman not go into the water iiefore 

 I I :45 in the morning; should one do so, one ran the 

 risk of being taken for a maid or valet. The masses, 

 however, swam for pleasure withoiu resjard to the 

 inhibitions of high fashion. 



This period was also marked by the advent of 

 swimming personalities of both sexes. Johiniy Weiss- 

 muller became a popular hero for his accomplish- 

 luents in competitive swimming from 1921 to 1929. 

 Even before the war Annette Kellerman, star of 

 vaudeville and movies, had become famous for her 

 fancy diving as well as her celebrated figure, which 

 she daringly exhibited in a form-fitting, one-piece 

 suit. In addition to writing an autobiography, she 

 authored articles and a swimming instruction book 

 for women. As an example of what exercise, including 

 swimming, could do for women, Annette Kellerman 

 also lent her name to a course of physical culture 

 for less "well-developed" ladies. Another product 

 of this new age of recreation was Gertrude Ederle, 

 who learned to swim at the Woman's Swimming 

 As.sociaiion of New York. She rose to sudden fame 

 in 1926 as the first woman to swim the English Channel. 



As previously stated, swimming was practiced 

 through the Middle .^ges as a useful skill for men. 

 Gradually this activity became regarded as also 

 a healthful exercise and then as a recreation. Finally 

 bv the late 19th century swimming also had achieved 

 the status of a competitive sport — but for men only. 

 It was not until the 1920s that social attitudes per- 

 mitted women the same full use of the water as men. 



The restrictive attitudes defining women's proper 

 behavior in the water prior to the 1920s were one 



COSTUME IN THE UNITED ST.ATES 



13 



