Figure 1.-- We are not sure when the colonia estiva (summer camp) was established at Gatteo, presumably some time during the Fascist era. Gatteo is a small Adriric port town south of Bologna.We notice an all girls seaside summer camp (colonia) at during summer 1948. After World War II and the fall of Fascism, the girls no longer wore uniforms. We are not sure who operated the camp after World War II, presumably some agency of the Italian Government. The Fascist summer camps were single gender facilities as the Balilla was organized along gender lines. We are not sure what has become of this camp, but most Italian summer camps today are mixed gender fscilities.

We are not sure when the colonia estiva (summer camp) was established at Gatteo, presumably some time during the Fascist era. Gatteo is a small Adriric port town south of Bologna. We notice an all girls seaside summer camp (colonia) during summer 1948. We do not know who was running the camp. As it was near Baologa, it could have been a Communist municipality. After World War II and the fall of Fascism, the girls no longer wore uniforms. We are not sure who operated the camp after World War II, presumably some agency of the Italian Government. The Fascist summer camps were single gender facilities as the Balilla was organized along gender lines. A British reader writes, "I find it strange that some of the quite big girls are topless, given that Italy is a Roman Catholic Country and modesty and decorum would be the norm. especially for the 1940s. Even for a girls' camp, I think it inconceivable that there were no male staff around. My sister, born in 1934, was never topless once she was out of nappies." We suspect that the ethos of Fascism was a factor here. Heliotherapy was strongly promoted in Fascist propagada. This photo was takern adter the War, but such ideas persisted. We are not sure what has become of this camp, but most Italian summer camps today are mixed gender facilities. An Italian reader writes, "It is very strange that so many girls the girls were topless. I don't note similar examples in the photographic record, eother duyring or right after the Fascist period. Today the situation is different and a topless girl, or woman, is not a problem on the Italian beaches. However I think that the colonie don't allow girls to stay topless. At public beaches, little children often went naked. We have also evidences that sometimes the boys were required to be naked at Balilla camps, at least for the induction ceremony."

Created: 5:09 AM 5/25/2010
Last updated: 4:48 AM 5/26/2010