Bathing Machines of the 19th Century

[SeaBreeze]

Bathing machines for women to change into their swim suits. More here.

Back in the 18th and 19th century, the ladies just couldn't strip to their swimwear and run towards the waves on the beach. There are certain sea-side etiquettes that needed to be observed and decorum to be maintained. Getting oneself seen in their bathing costumes by the members of the opposite sex was certainly not one of them.

To help women maintain their modesty and dignity, a simple contraption called the “bathing machine” was developed. A bathing machine resembled a wooden changing room commonly seen on beaches, but larger in size, and raised on wheels and with steps leading to the inside.

The female bather would enter the small room of the machine while it was on the beach, wearing their street clothing. In the privacy of the machine, she would change into her bathing dress, which was exceedingly modest compared to today’s standards, and place her street clothes into a raised compartment where they would remain dry

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

I never saw or heard of anything like that,very interesting. Those wheels look so heavy. I guess they used the horses to move them to and from the water. One nice feature was the fact you didn't have sandy feet trying to get into your clothes when you were done swimming.

 

[SeaBreeze]

They did use horses, another picture from the webpage.

 

[jujube]

Those babes were practically wearing bikinis compared to what some of the Victorian ladies wore, which were heavy wool knee-length "bathing dresses" with high necks, long sleeves, black stockings and water shoes. I would imagine that if a wave knocked them over, they'd be hard put to get up in those heavy outfits, never less climb back into the bathing machines. Heaven help if a man got a glimpse of a naked ankle or an enticing elbow. Men were such beasts, y'know.

No wonder the Victorians were so messed-up sexually and had pretty nasty pornography. Legs, of course, were strictly off-bounds and were never seen. In fact, Victorian ladies didn't even have legs; they had "nether limbs", assuming they were so depraved as to refer to them at all. In many a Victorian household, the table and piano legs had frilly little pantaloons on them. You couldn't have the sight of all those ..... gasp.... LEGS...... getting the hubby all jumpy in the trousers. When Victoria wanted to keep something a Secret, it was locked up tighter than the Bank of England.