Posted on 08/21/2024 8:10:54 AM PDT by Red Badger
I was catching up with my uncle recently, and he dropped a story that had me questioning everything. It was so wild, I thought he was pulling my leg. When he kept insisting it was true, I even wondered if Uncle Toby had a touch of dementia. But nope, Uncle Toby’s sharp as ever, and his story was 100 percent real.
So, what had me so floored? We were talking about schools and sports, and Uncle Toby casually mentioned that when he was in high school back in the 1950s, all the boys had to swim nude.
Uh, excuse me, what?
Yup, you heard that right. Uncle Toby said during gym class, the boys and girls were separated. The girls swam in bathing suits, but the boys? They swam totally naked. I was like, “Uncle Toby, what kind of crazy school did you go to?” And he swore it was a regular public school, adding that most schools in the US did the same thing until the 1970s.
I mean, come on, right? You can see why I thought old Uncle Toby was off his rocker. This sounded completely insane. So, naturally, I had to do some digging. And guess what? Uncle Toby was spot on. Up until the 1970s, American schoolboys were swimming in the buff at public schools across the nation.
Now, the burning question is, “Why?” Let’s dive in, shall we?
I stumbled upon this fascinating article titled “When boys swam nude in gym class” from the Democrat and Chronicle:
“When you got into high school, and you used the pool for gym, they had these rules and everybody had to follow them,” Reeves recalled of his days at Charlotte High School.
No running on the deck. No horseplay. No diving in the shallow end. Take a shower before swimming. Swim naked. No chewing gum…
It may be inconceivable to anyone under 50, but nude swimming was standard for high school boys in Rochester and in many American cities and states until at least 1970.
Yes, to a Millennial like me, this concept sounds completely whacko.
But that still didn’t answer the burning question: Why were young boys forced to swim in the buff around each other and, more importantly, around their adult male teachers? I had to get some insight from Uncle Toby. So, I asked him, “Why were schools enforcing naked swimming?” He dug into his dusty memory archives and tentatively suggested it might have been about maintaining cleanliness.
“Cleanliness?” I shot back. “Then why were the girls wearing swimsuits? If it was about hygiene, shouldn’t everyone have been suitless?” I felt like Jessica B. Fletcher, ready to crack open a “Murder She Wrote” mystery. But I could sense Uncle Toby’s growing frustration. He flatly said, “Bella, don’t ask me to make sense of this nonsense. When the government tells me to wear a seatbelt, I just do it without questioning.”
“Fair enough, Uncle Toby,” I replied, “but if they ever ask you to wear a seatbelt without your clothes on, I hope you ask why.” With that, I ended the call and dived into my investigation, determined to uncover the “why” behind this peculiar practice.
It turns out I wasn’t the only one baffled by the naked swimming. Just like Uncle Toby, the boys forced to swim naked were also totally confused. The Democrat and Chronicle piece took a deeper dive into this bizarre chapter of school history.
“It was the weirdest thing in the world,” recalled Chuck Napieralski, 67, who graduated with Reeves from Charlotte in 1968. “You can just imagine standing there in a line with your hands across the front hiding yourself. Once you got to the pool you just jumped in.”
Well, upon closer inspection, I was starting to realize that once again, old Uncle Toby might have been onto something.
It turns out that this rather bizarre tradition of boys doing the breast stroke in their birthday suits can be traced all the way back to 1885, when it began at an all-male indoor pool in Brooklyn’s YMCA. The kicker is that this decision to introduce nude swimming was driven by concerns surrounding the wool swimsuits and how the fibers collected dirt and bacteria, posing a potential threat to health and the pool’s filtration system. After that, the rest is basically “history,” as the Democrat and Chronicle piece explains:
In 1926, the American Public Health Association published the first guide for swimming pool management. It recommended men swim nude and women wear suits “of the simplest type.” Those guidelines remained until 1962.After that, it was a matter of custom. Andrew Saul, a nutritionist and author from Rochester, wrote of swimming nude at Charlotte High School as late as 1970.“Back dives were especially revealing,” Saul wrote in his 2003 book, Doctor Yourself.Perhaps school administrators thought nude swimming built cohesion between young men. Maybe it did. Few activities foster solidarity like man-to-man defense in a naked water polo game.
And if young boys were looking for some comfort and support from advice gurus like Ann Landers, they were outta luck. Back in 1974, a 15-year-old boy wrote to Ann about how uncomfortable he was taking showers in front of others, and her advice was not exactly “comforting.”
“You need to talk to a school counselor and learn why you are so uptight about being seen naked. If you look around you’ll find the vast majority of the guys who are showering are not in the least bit self-conscious.”
Apparently, Ann was into tough love and some other weird stuff. However, based on his age and the time frame, this kid probably didn’t have to swim in his birthday suit, but if Ann’s response was at all symbolic of the time, clearly, there was not a lot of sympathy or concern about these kids being forced to swim around like “Free Willy.” It might make for some rather strange dinner conversation, but if the topic comes up, find out if anybody in your family had to swim around like a frat boy after a wild kegger.
Needless to say, this was a very strange time in US public schools.
Till next time, be wickedly wonderful.
My aunt’s family had a priest friend who was close to the family. He was called uncle by my cousins. The youngest was the only boy born in 1966. Every summer, the priests in different churches took boys on different day trips like baseball games, mini golf, the beach.
My cousin was allowed by this ‘uncle’ priest to go on all trips except to the NY Athletic Club where they all swam naked. When I learned this, I lost any respect I had for him, which wasn’t much already. He knew what was going on and protected my cousin but not the other boys. He knew, the bastard.
not in nc
No pool at HS but at college (WPI) 1967 all had to have a swim test and yup, buck naked. It was all male until 1968 when two girls enrolled. Also spent time staying at the NYAC in NYC during the 80’s. Great pool, and all swimming was required naked. Think it changed as women were allowed membership in ‘89.
Did the gym teacher instruct everyone on “shrinkage”?
btt
What I know now about the sexual perversion of many high school coaches, I was deeply disturbed one day when the swim class coach stood between the showers and the pool and inspected the genitals of every kid in the class as they passed by him into the pool area, allegedly insuring they had showered.
How many schools had a pool? NONE of the 4 HS in my County did, neither did the Jr High schools. There was a YMCA, and a Memorial pool, built by FDR along with a baseball/softball/football stadium built of timbers.. It was gorgeous.
Jackson Miss
63-75
Swimsuits
Skinny dipping was more private
Women refused to swim naked, but you had to wear the swim suits they provided you at the local YWCA. But of course there were fewer places for women to swim.
I don't know about high school, since none of our local high schools had swimming pools in the 1950s.
And when boys skinny dipped in the local pond or stream they went in naked too.
take your minds out of the gutter. It was a more innocent time before the sexual revolution made everything about sex.
Like a frightened turtle.
Bull shit
It was for sure more innocent
Liz is right
Compare tinder culture which is pervasive in younger folks
With first second and third base
Or pining for a date
Or waiting till marriage for intercourse
Not to mention all the damn queers now
And the coarseness of black culture today and WAP etc
I grew up in it
It was better
Abuse.
Public schools
2 Timothy 3:13
But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived “
Imposters, as the O.
In the late '30s my dad and his buddies enjoyed visiting public restrooms in order to beat up queers.
Seem to be a mostly Yankee thing..........
😎
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A privileged upbringing. Be thankful.
Ias a female never have felt comfortable being named around anyone really....its my upbringing.
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