“C
OME IN,” THE WATER IS FINE reads the caption on this card postmarked in 1926 show-ing
four women standing arm in arm in the surf. Gone is their 1900 bathing attire — the
skirts, sleeves, stockings and shoes. But, their wool knit suits are still styled with belts,
buttons and collars, worn with cloche hats and bobbed haircuts, popular in the 20s.
Clockwise, a 40s beauty perched atop a piling wears a yellow two piece. During WWII
the United States government asked bathing suit manufacturers to use less fabric so
there would be enough for items needed by the war effort. The result was the two-piece bathing suit.
Walking out of the surf are two 40s bathers in matching red and white striped two-piece suits.
The first pier on the North Carolina coast was the Seashore Hotel Pier built in 1910 on Wrightsville
Beach. It was 700 feet long with a pavilion and observation deck. This card shows people watch-ing
bathers from the pier. A 1921 storm destroyed the pier, which was never rebuilt. The Blockade
Runner Hotel sits on the site of the Seashore Hotel.
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