Sullen in the Sun
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Bathing SuitsStrawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #6

The perfect August weather was apparently not enough to brighten this mostly moody group of beachgoers. Perhaps it’s the bathing suits. IN the late 1800s women typically donned black woolen suits with sailor collars worn over bloomers, plus knee high stockings with laced up slippers. Outfits were often hung with ribbons and topped with a sun bonnet. Victorian tourists did enjoy freedom from one thing that our exposed generation risks – skin cancer.



HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here weekly

Early Bathing Suits

 

From HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH
Early Photographs from the Collections of Strawbery Banke
by James L. Garvin & Susan Grigg, Peter Randall Publisher
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum . All rights reserved.

See new photos weekly here and each Thursday in
The Portsmouth Herald. Edited by J. Dennis Robinson.