Men swimming shirtless in old-time Phoenix


Among the many things that never, ever, occurred to me was that it used to be illegal for men to appear in public shirtless. One of my history adventuring friends mentioned it, and it's got me to thinking, and doing some research. Looks like in most places in America right up through the 1930s, a man could be arrested for being shirtless in public, even swimming.

So of course the first thing I did was to go look through my collection, and I found this one at the top of this post, from 1954 at a resort in Phoenix. I'm not sure, but I think it's the Camelback Inn. I found it in an ad.

And while I've definitely taken a good look at what the girl is wearing, and the couple in the background, I never gave the young man a second look. I mean, it just seems perfectly natural to be at a pool, ready for a swim, and, uh, topless (if you can apply that term to a man).

I have a lot of pics of pools, and swimmers, so I'm still looking. Hang on, I'll see what I can find if I search for "swimming".


OK, here are some men swimming in 1895. But that seems a bit too far back. Let's see what else I can find.


Here we go - 1920s. The kids just look like they're wearing tank tops, but they're actually swimming suits. And one kid is topless! Yikes! Well, it's just in a canal, anyway - I'm sure that the topless kid would have gotten kicked out of a pool for indecent exposure. And by the way, my understanding is that clothing in Phoenix canals used to be very optional (like it describes in the article below).

1911

Speaking for myself, I've always been the kind of man who has never been reluctant to take off his shirt. I remember visiting my parents at their retirement community to use the pool, and in my innocence walked from their trailer (oops, I mean mobile home) to the pool topless. The scandal! I was told in no uncertain terms that I was supposed to wear a shirt. Luckily, men could be shirtless once they were in the pool - where no one had to look at them.

Thank you for swimming shirtless with me in old-time Phoenix!
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