Bathers At The Brighton Baths & Beach August 3, 1912
The Labor Day weekend is over now and those who went to the beaches found it crowded on three mostly sunny and hot days.
Though the costumes and people are different, 111 years ago on August 3, 1912 New Yorkers also sought the surf at Brighton Beach. This photograph is by William Davis Hassler, and is now in the collection of The New York Historical Society.
A few things to note. Hassler’s camera does not concentrate on swimmers but those lounging on the sand in front of the Brighton Baths. Many people came to the beach back in the teens not necessarily to swim, but to catch the ocean breezes and escape the heat of the city.
A Day At The Beach
As you can see many of the people on the beach are in a full state of dress, not in bathing suits. Unlike today where skin is on ample display, the sight of a woman’s bare leg was considered sensual and scandalous. Most of the adult women sit on the sand with stockings. A few people have personal umbrellas or parasols, but there are few beach umbrellas. A handful of people have beach chairs but most people just spread out without towels on the sand.
The large building is the Brighton Baths where a swimming pool offered an alternative to the Atlantic. If you wanted to bathe in the ocean in front of the Brighton Baths there was a 15 cent charge. Strange considering that the establishment was owned by Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT) and the beachfront was owned by the city not the private company.
There are ropes to help guide swimmers leading from the shore out into the ocean and back.
On the side of one building by the pier there is sign for bathing at night. For non-swimmers, there was a nightly fireworks display.
Olnick Bros. Restaurant advertises many food and beverages. Among the choices: cold cuts, potato salad, sandwiches, chowder, pies, candies, cakes, crackers and Reid’s Ice Cream. Drinks include tea, coffee, soda water, soft drinks and milk in bottles.
At the extreme right is a billboard for “Death Motordrome.” Essentially these were automobile races where drivers like Barney Oldfield pushed the limits of speed: up to 100 miles per hour.
Why is there a swastika above the top floor window (above the words “Brighton Baths”)?
Prior to the rise of the National Socialist party, the swastika was not affiliated with Nazi ideology. Steven Heller, wrote an entire book about the appropriation of the symbol- Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption? .
“In the early 20th Century, the swastika was widely used in Europe as a symbol of good luck. Interlocked swastikas were used in textiles and architecture. The sign was used in many ways before Hitler adapted it. A sign of good fortune, fertility, happiness, Sun, and it was given spiritual import as well as commercial value when it was used with or as a brand or logo. In the early 20th Century, the swastika was used as a symbol of good luck in advertising, architecture and jewellery. The Danish brewing company Carlsberg, headquartered in Copenhagen, used the symbol as its logo from 1881 to the 1930s, and then discontinued it because of its Nazi association.”
Heller explains, “When Hitler was looking for a symbol for his newly launched party, he used the hakenkreuz, rotating the swastika to the right and omitting the four dots – he then adopted this as the party’s emblem in 1920. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, passed a law in May 1933 that prevented unauthorized commercial use of the hooked cross.”