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Shallow Water Hunting
In Lakes
By L.W. Steve
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LET'S TAKE A SWIM BACK IN TIME
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A lot of us like to research the old swim sites. When doing research, I like
to search for the old resorts and community beaches. Most of the older public
beaches have been hit pretty hard, but their is still old stuff left in them.
Every summer the jewelry is replenished in these old swim beaches. In
the process of recovering this newly lost stuff we are still are digging up
old stuff that we've missed in the past. The water is very tuff to "hunt out".
As we all know, the local library is one of the best places for doing
research. When I'm in there I will sometimes come across articles that will
describe the people and times back then. And questions will arise like...
What kind of swim wear did they wear back in the 1920's, 30's & 40's?
How did the swimmers get to the beach?
What percentage brought along silver coins with them? And what were they going
to use it for?
How many people left their silver in the Bath House when they went swimming?
Why did their swim trunks have belts with brass buckle plates attached?
Did they take their rings off before they went swimming? If so, did they put
them in their swim suit pockets or did they leave them on their beach towels?
Lets go back in time...
To the 20's, 30's & 40's when people didn't have computers and Nintendo sets in their
homes like we do today. And many did not have their own cars either. So on those hot
summer days people headed to the lake. Swimming was a very big past time back
then.
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To get to the beach they walked, peddled their bikes, used boats and even took the trolley. Let's not forget automobiles either.
The lake was also a good place to meet people, and for the fellas looking for that
Saturday night dance partner... the beach was the perfect setting.
The photo on the right was a public swim beach. It still is today except
it doesn't get nearly as crowded. The photo was taken in 1930.
It sure was a "hoppin" place back then!
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The popular swim beaches had Bath Houses. Here you could shower, bathe and change
clothes, and or leave your clothes with the proprietor while you took a dip.
(there was a minimal charge for this) In return they gave you a numbered brass
tag with a brass safety pin. They attached these to their swim trunks. When
they were done swimming then they could go claim their belongings inside the
Bath House. (much like today's modern swimming pools) Some bath houses were built
out over water. A lot of them were poorly built with cracks in the floors. So
that when they dropped their coins while changing their cloths, their coins rolled
and fell thru the cracks and their silver dropped into the lake. If you ever
come across one of these bath houses that was built out over the lake and that
has been torn down, then you're in for a real treat! :)
The beaches also had concession stands. Popcorn, hot dogs, a soda... after
a long swim they acquired an empty stomach. So money flow did take place.
So where did they put their silver when they went swimming?
Most of their swim wear had pockets. One problem though... air bubbles formed
on the inside of their pockets once they got out into the water. And as
a result, their silver ended up at the bottom of the lake by days end.
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