Figure 1.--The photo was taken in 1930s on a German Baltic Sea beach. It may not be a family. We suspect perhaps friends made at the beach my be involved. Note that two boys, the girl, and a woman are all dessed up. Only one of the boys seem to have gone for a swim.

There are all kinds of fun activities that can be enjoyed at the beach. Of course swimming or at least playing in the surf is the one that most immediately comes to mind, but this depended a great deal on both age and chronlogically changing tastes. Today, laying in the sand getting a tan (even now that the dangers of skin cancer are known) are a major interet. This was not the case in the early-20th century when a milky white complexion was the ideal. Notice how beavh goers are commonly dressed and covered up. Swiming was popular for older childre, escpecially the boys. The younger children were more interested in play on the beach, especially with the sand, digging and builing sand castles. If there were safe areas, wading and splashing in the shallows were also popular activities. A factor at German beaches, meaning primarily the Baltic was the te,perture. The Blatic is a northerly sea. The German Baltic coast is set at about %%�N, approximately the same lattitide as Maine and Nova Scotia in Noryth America and there is no moderating influences like the Gulf Stream. hus a swim is a rather bracing experience.

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Created: 6:48 AM 6/22/2019
Last updated: 6:48 AM 6/22/2019