The following are anecdotal stories submitted the authors of this site by individuals that experienced situations involving swimming wherein the males were required to be nude. We have no way of authenticating most of these stories and therefore cannot verify their veracity of a number of them. Juxtaposing these stories next to authenticate publications found on the other pages of this site might suggest a higher level of authenticity than what can be verified; therefore, this page includes many stories told that could be truthful, embellished, or, fall in the camp of unverified urban legend. They are presented solely to give a flavor of discussion that surrounds the general theme of this website and how some tell what it was like to experience nude male swimming. When stories can be linked to other websites or authenticated publication, links are provided. If you have a story to tell, please feel free to email us at the email address on the home page. We will, however, use discretion as to the plausibility and interest of the story before posting. We want to thank the authors that have contributed to this story board and have volunteered to provide us edits and clarification when asked to do so.
Jumper-Swim Gives History
From: ClutchFans (Houston Rockets) Discussion Forum
The best explanation we have found on the Internet explaining the evolution of why men and boys swam nude at the Y and other public pools, and, why the practice was eventually drowned out (no pun intended), was discussed by "Jumper-Swim", a 61-year-old swimmer and scuba diver who lived through this period. Based upon our own research, his accounts and detailed, historical observations are the best and most accurate we have found anywhere. Reading his discussion below will provide you a strong, solid education on this subject unparalleled by any other we have seen. We have thus created a separate page for recounting of those days:
Orignins of Nude Swimming at Y & Public Schools
Chicago Students Remember Being Told to Strip
Yahoo! Voices: The Demise of High School Nude Swimming in the U.S.
"We did swim naked," confirms Terry, a student at Chicago's Roosevelt High School during the early 60s. "You did what you were told in those days. We never really thought about it too much." Adds another, "No one really made any objection that I know of--the teacher said to do it, so we did." Indeed most early boomers agreed, "This was just the way it was for boys, and we did not give it a second thought."
But the memories are vivid. The first day some men recall being told to take all of their clothes off, and then being marched through showers before entering the pool area, where they were told to line up along the pool edge for roll call. "Lining up for attendance was the worst part," declares one former student. "Once you were in the water it was fine." Others said it was a bit weird at first, but got used to it after a few weeks.
"Adolescents really had no empowerment, and if anyone objected, they would be considered a sissy," says Allen, a 1961 Chicago Public School graduate. "That was the environment then, and we really all wanted to fit in."
Although no good statistics are available, anecdotal evidence suggests the practice was widespread in the U.S., but particularly prevalent in the Midwest, especially large cities like Chicago. While nationally most schools did not have pools, one Wisconsin survey showed two of three high schools with pools employed the policy.
"Most of us didn't talk about it much," says Charlie, a mid-60s student at Amundsen High School in Chicago. "We did not tell our parents or the girls that we swam nude, and really did not talk about it amongst ourselves either. But I was embarrassed about it."
'Old Swimmin' Hole * of Riley 's Immortal Poem Far Different From Tiled Tanks"
Remembering stories of skinny-dipping in Indianapolis swimming holes in the late 1800s
Published in the Indianapolis Star, Friday, August 5, 1921
In 1921, the Indianapolis Star published an article on long-forgotten swimming holes that had been popular in earlier decades. Men that had played in these waters in their youth during the Victorian era (latter 1800s) recalled their experiences. The article discusses how boys of all ages would skinny dip there, and other nearby swimming holes.
Mr. Harry Hubbarvi indicated: "I can recall hearing of the older boys who slipped away to this old swimming hole and played hooky from school in order to dive there In the waters, using the high bank as a place to dive from."
And Mr. A. Jones remembers, "I guess that boys of all ages have enjoyed swimming. Some of the boys then, as now, were more daring." He then adds, "Those were great old days. We didn't even have such things as Annette Kellermann bathing suits in those days, for. in fact, we didn't have any bathing suits except our birthday suit, as we called our nakedness. The women were not much stuck on swimming stunts, at it was not considered ladylike as it is today."
The above statements by Messrs. Hubbarvi and Jones as well as the rest of the article clearly evidence four things. First, boys of all ages skinny dipped in the swimming holes. Second, none of the boys owned swim suits and all swam naked. Third, females were present with the boys. And forth, females did not do any of the swimming "stunts", as they were not considered ladylike. This last point is important as it echoes sentiments of those days, and that is, the females' deportment of that era was dictated by only doing things that were "ladylike" . As discussed elsewhere on this site and in other stories on this page, it was not considered ladylike for females to swim in anything other than bathing costumes that fully covered the entire body. Yet we know that although this expectation was placed on the girls, it was common for boys to swim stark naked from head to feet, often when in the presence of girls.
The article includes rare vintage photographs that were found that show people enjoying the swimming holes 35 to 40 years prior to the publication (about 1880 to 1885). A number of females can be seen on the banks and in the water in Victorian era swim costumes that are one piece with skirts to down to the knees, with all boys being naked.
This article is one of the many included in the download link for related historical documentation:
Christine Brenton - Peeping in on Boys Swim Class
Retrieved from Topix Forum and edited per her permission
I can verify with certainty that during my day, boys did indeed swim nude during their swim class. I'm 66 and remember when growing up our high school had a swimming pool, although not all did. All students were required to take swimming classes and there was no secret that boys did not wear suits. Why the boys were denied swimsuits whereas the girls were provided them was never properly explained, but as a girl that was not my concern.
The girls were given flannel bathing suits that were about as attractive as a potato sack. Of course, boys were never allowed in the pool area when the girls were using it, and girls were never allowed in when the boys were there. But a rather not-so-hidden secret was that we did not need to go into the pool area to see everything. The girls locker room had metal double doors that opened into the pool area and inside the door was a short corridor into our locker room. At the time our school was quite old, and there was a gap between the doors. The internal corridor leading to the doors could not be seen from the locker room, so we could be in there without being seen by all the other girls, and especially, or our P.E. instructor. When one of us pressed our face into the door and peered through the crack, we could see the entire pool area as though the doors were not even there.
At the beginning of our P.E. class, the girls were given an extended period of time to put on our outfits for volleyball or whatever the day's agenda included. Some of us would race to put on our gym clothes and be in the corridor at the exact time the boys would enter the pool area, and then we would peek through the gap in the doors and watch the boys enter from their locker room - every single boy nude. I particularly enjoyed roll call when the boys lined up on the opposite side of the pool facing our door allowing us to see each boy whom we knew very well stark naked from head to foot leaving nothing to our imagination. The boys' coach, who I believe had been a sergeant in the Korean War, was very tough on the boys and didn't seem to care when any of the boys that complained about their suspicions of us spying on them as we could hear him say "buck it up!" when one of the boys mentioned that the girls were peeping. Needless to say, it was quite the anatomy lesson for us girls. I marveled at witnessing the varying stages of development the boys I knew so well were going through while learning which boy was well into puberty, and which was not. It was also the first time in my life I ever noticed an erection when one of the boys apparently was unable to control his arousal, while the other boys teased and laughed at him - I must say, we girls were secretly joining in that laughter. I truly believe the girls' P.E. instructor knew what we were doing as I heard her once joking with another girls' coach about it, maybe thinking it was just our satisfying our natural curiosity and thus permitted us to have our fun. I realize doing it was not right, but honestly, if I had it to do all over again, I would...it was too much fun.
Carol Discusses Peeping in on Boys Swim Class
From: Alumni Forum, West Junior High, Duluth Minnesota
Carol (alumini): Lisa and I were laying on the floor in the girls' shower room looking under the door when the boys were in swimming (I didn't have any brothers so this was all new to me). Mrs. Turnbloom caught us, but I don't remember what she did with us, probably sent us to the principal. I don't remember what boys were in that class, probably because I wasn't looking at faces. ha
Females Sometimes Present While Boys Swam Nude
Municipal Swimming Baths in East Hull, England
Submitted by Steven P.
The municipal swimming baths in East Hull England, in the late fifties, had an all male swimming session every Saturday for one hour from 9am. It was the smaller of the two pools that boys aged 9 to 14 were allowed to use; there was no requirement for costumes to be worn and a large number of boys went in stark naked. The girls session was straight after from 10 to 11am in the same pool. I never knew any of the girls who went to these sessions.
I started using the pool when I was nine attending with a school friend. One Saturday I happened to mention to my sister that my swimming trunks were too tight and I should buy a new pair, she remarked that I had mentioned that most of the boys swam nude and why didn’t I just go in bare like everyone else. I seem to remember there was a local expression used for going in naked; we called it going in “bare buck” a derivation presumably of buck naked. I have not heard this expression used anywhere else and think it must be peculiar to the area.
The following Saturday I went to the pool with the intention of swimming completely naked. Even at 9am the pool was crowded and everywhere I looked there was a plethora of bare bottoms. I undressed as quickly as I could, it felt funny when I got to the part where I would normally pull on my tight trunks but I left them off and with a feeling of freedom I plunged into the pool. My sister had told me not to bother taking my costume to the pool so that I would have no choice other than to go in starkers.
It was the first time I had swum nude and I found it a very liberating experience. I was not embarrassed in any way by my nudity but loved the feeling of freedom that swimming without a costume gave me. From that moment on I was converted to the joys of stark naked swimming. Not all of the boys were nude, about half of them went in naked, usually the ones aged from about nine to thirteen. Boys of about fourteen seemed to favour wearing trunks though not in all cases. The number of naked boys varied from week to week. Sometimes there might be only two or three naked boys but on most occasions there might be a dozen or more. On one occasion I was one of only three boys swimming bare but generally speaking nudity was the order of the day. I never wore trunks but had to stop going when I became 14 yrs old. All of the boys adopted an uninhibited attitude to their nudity with plenty of frolicking, running and lots of bending down.
Sometimes women and girls did come into the pool area, often searching for their offspring or brothers; also the pool was attended at times by female workers. There was also a balcony which was open to the public, sometimes men would sit there reading newspapers No one paid any attention to the men or occasional girl, and it was just considered perfectly natural. I never saw one boy dive into the pool to escape a female eye nor did I ever observe a boy covering his genitals with his hands. Most of these women were mature and had children of their own, quite sensibly they were not offended by the sight of a twelve year old boy’s bare bum. I’m sure a lot of them would have just laughed if you had suggested that the boys were doing anything vulgar or obscene.
The baths in question still exist at 88 Holderness Road but I cannot imagine the Saturday boys only sessions are still going. The last session that I went to was in 1961. In our PC correct world it would be considered very rude to have so many bare bottoms on show and everyone would be made to cover-up, this attitude has created an unhealthy attitude to nudity. Bringing back the idea that it’s normal for males to be nude in the presence of clothed women would be a positive step towards normalizing modern life.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By Mark Twain - pages 136 through 137
In his renowned novel first published during the Victorian period in 1884, Mark Twain tells a story of two boys, Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, and their adventures. Through a first person retelling, Huckleberry Finn gives us a look at the culture of the times in rural America. As this website evidences, open nudity of boys in popular swimming areas was common in many European watering spots throughout the Victorian Era; yet, attire for boys was more conservative in America at most of the popular seaside areas and lakes. However, this was rarely the case in rural areas where both boys and men preferred enjoying the water completely nude. Following is an excerpt from Twain's classic book where Finn tells us of his experiences in drifting on their raft down the mighty river, and provides us a glimpse into that era when boys would always opt to be naked whenever they were around water:
"Soon as it was night, out we shoved; when we got her out to about the middle, we left her alone, and let her float where-ever the current wanted her to; then we lit the pipes and dangled our legs in the water and talked about all kinds of things - we was always naked, day and night, whenever the mosquitoes would let us - the new clothes Buck's folks made for me was too good to be comfortable, and besides I didn't go much on clothes, nohow."
Remembering the Days at Kennedy High School, Chicago
From: Commentary Blog "A Hole in the Head"
I went to Kennedy High School, which was a fairly new school relative to the other ancient structures in the city. It was built around 1962. Connected at one end of the high school, attached by a bridge, was Kinzie Elementary. Since I was 4 until I was 18, those two buildings were where I grew up. Rumors about naked swim began to surface when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade. And we knew it was true… because we could see them; The swimming pool's slightly frosted windows looked out on our playground. Year after year during recess and lunches we would watch the parade of naked boys walking past the window, occasionally they would lean back against the glass and we could see their squished buttocks. It terrified me. Someday I would be on the other side of that glass.
...Then from there into the large room where the pool was, again in lines of four or five. Some of the guys were really natural with their nakedness. Wrestling with each other, shoving and pushing. I don't know when I first knew that something was different about me sexually, but I'm sure it when I was seeing guys that I had just sat next to in history and now we were front to butt with each other going to jump in the pool. Dare I say at age 14 I had definite stirrings, although I didn't know what they were? I don't think at that time I could have given it a word. But we were all comparing ourselves to each other. Big dicks, small dicks. There were two obese twins whose genitals were completely covered by rolls of fat. I can't imagine what this experience did to them. Other boys with big members proudly knew that they had something special and would strut around with semi-boners telling of how they screwed their girl friends last night.
...In that room was a huge Weeki Watchee picture window that looked into the swimming pool. Are there 8mm films of years of naked teenage boys swimming somewhere? The other thing was there was stadium seating that looked over the swimming pool. This was never locked and years later we learned that it was common for the girls to sneak up there and watch the naked boys.
The entire blog can be read here: Naked Boys Swimming
Boys Skinny Dipping --- A Mom's Memories
From: Susan, May 26, 2000, re-posted on Visual Sensations for Women Forum
I’ve read a number of the posts here about males nude in front of females, and thought I’d share my observations as a 50-something woman, divorced, with two grown children. There are exceptions, but I believe that most males enjoy being nude in front of the opposite sex, whereas most females would find it embarrassing. Deep down, I think that males equate nudity with power, but females equate it with vulnerability. My father and brothers were nude in front of my mom and me so many times growing up I couldn’t begin to count. But, they never saw us nude---to this day I’ve never seen my mother nude either.
When I was married, my husband and I always allowed our son and his male friends to skinnydip in our backyard pool, even when our daughter and her girlfriends were present (they always wore suits). Everyone---boys and girls alike---had a good time, and there was never a problem. We never forced nudity upon our son or his friends, it was their choice. They knew swimming nude usually meant that their sister and I (and other girls and moms) would see them nude, yet they went in nude in spite of (or perhaps because of) the presence of females.
Occasionally I’d ask my son and the other boys if they weren’t embarrassed by the nudity. After all, these were girls they’d see at school and the mothers of their friends. But, they couldn’t have cared less. He said once that he enjoyed seeing one of our daughter’s friends in the hall at school, knowing she’d seen him naked. He also said that being naked in front of the girls was a lot of fun. Our daughter, on the other hand, would have died of embarrassment if a boy ever saw her topless, much less nude! She and her girlfriends received a good anatomy lesson over the years, seeing boys in a non-sexual, non-threatening environment.
Mother Uses Nephew to Educate Her Girls on Boys' Anatomy
Told by Timothy Shaw
I'm from the old school having grown up in the 1940s and 1950s. It is clear to me is that the world we live in today is quite different than when I was growing up in the northwest and the difference of how boys and girls interacted back as compared to today's times isn't nearly as discussed as other historical differences such as racism and women in the work place. This story would have been unremarkable back in the day, but given our present-day focus on equality and gender roles, it is hard for many to fathom. Most importantly, the issue about "double-standard" has to be taken in context. I remember talking with my grandmother when she lamented about not being able to vote because she was a woman, even though she was a single parent raising three children. And her drunkard good-for-nothing husband had taken all the money forcing her to have two jobs - doing laundry and cleaning floors for wealthy families. Yet society felt he had the right to vote whereas she did not. But if that fact had not been so documented, many of you would never believe such double standards happened, and, that it cut both ways.
I grew up with two brothers and a sister in St. Louis, Missouri. As told in the 1971 Dear Abby column, at that time it was deemed proper for girls to be allowed to see boys naked, but improper for boys to see girls naked. And in the 1950s, that belief was even more accepted. It was during that period when one summer when I was 13-years-old that my stepmother had me go stay with her sister that lived on a farm about 45 miles away in Hillsboro. The main reason for the trip was that her husband had suffered a back injury and was in the hospital. So while he healed, I was there to help with the chores. Although not my aunt by blood, I still referred to her as Aunt Lucy. Lucille had three daughters that included Allison who, if I remember correctly was about 13, Susan who was 12 and Irene who was about 8. All three were pretty, but I particularly had a crush on Allison who had beautiful long brown hair, deep brown eyes and a smile that could melt an iceberg. From the first day there, it was clear she knew I had a crush on her as I often stammered when trying to talk to her. Yet I got along fine with all the girls, although little Irene was often annoying following me everywhere like a little duckling following it’s mother. The work was hard for a city boy unaccustomed to farm work, but I managed.
For several days the sweltering heat made it particularly unbearable, so my aunt promsied all of us that if we did our chores, she would take us swimming at a place called Browns Ford located on the Big River near Dittmere, which was about 10 miles away. I knew it had to be a good spot as the girls were ecstatic when the promise was made. The following day she kept her promise. After we completed our morning chores, she told us to go wait in their 1957 Chevy station wagon while she got our belongings, towels and a foldable chair. Although I had neglected to bring swimming trunks, I was unconcerned as the shorts I was wearing would certainly suffice for a swim in the river. Lucy got the girls’ swimsuits and placed them in a beach bag, we got in the car and drove to Browns Ford. When we got there I noticed a number of other mothers and daughters, but not many boys. Given it was a weekday, the men were at work, of course. Aunt Lucy explained to me that boy’s scouting camp was very popular, and most of the boys were there. I was a bit disappointed because I was tired of being surrounded by females and wanted male companionship, but I was still happy to be away from the chores and anxious to jump in the river. We crossed a slightly flooded bridge, pulled over and parked.
We walked parallel to the river bank for several hundred yards. There were people of all ages, including other mothers that had brought their children. Susan yelled at one, “Hello Becky!”, and I learned the two girls were in the same class at school. But aside from school, living remotely on a farm meant these girls really had little interaction with the outside world. The mother was also religious and conservative, and made it clear no “potty mouth” talk would be tolerated. So I wondered how these girls learned such “taboo” things that we adolescents in the city learn at an early age. Bear in mind these were the days when Lucy and Ricky Ricardo had to sleep in separate beds on T.V., and way before the first racy magazines would start hitting the shelves well over a decade later. As noted in the Dear Abby columns as well as other writings of that period, almost all girls their age had a natural curiosity about the “secret” boys hide in their pants, but for these particular girls, it was even more of a mystery. We proceeded to a spot where there were no people and was somewhat private compared to the rest of the bank. There was an area where the water had receded making a great place to throw our blanket down, and we did.
Looking back on the situation, I could have simply refused, but that meant not swimming. My brain had already been hard-wired to going swimming that day in this stream, so my mind wasn’t quick enough to change direction and contemplate sitting out the swim to avoid the embarrassment. Further, Aunt Lucy was quite direct and forceful whenever she gave instructions, which my mom had told me to respect and obey. So at that moment, it was though I had no other option. As my heart raced and mind spun, I bent over and pulling down and taking off the last threads that protected my dignity. I’d like to say the girls were ambivalent about it and paid no attention, but it was the exact opposite. They were surprised at what I was doing as much as I was. With wide eyes and open smiling mouths, they gawked at me getting nude. And as said before, these farm girls had most certainly never seen a naked man or boy, so it was a new experience for them. Their curiosity about the “secret” boys hide from girls was about to be revealed, and they were ecstatic. I could see that the level of my trepidation and humiliation had been equally matched by their exuberance of watching me strip naked. And my aunt didn’t help the situation a bit as she stood there with a smug smile also watching me, no doubt gloating about her ability to get me to acquiesce and obey her instructions.
My aunt was clearly unconcerned that the three girls were now intensely focused on my naked body. On the contrary, it almost seemed as though their interest pleased her. When I saw the three girls glaring down at my crotch, I immediately covered my genitals with my hands in shame. I had no reason to feel shame, yet I did. But hiding my genitals from them seemed to make them all the more eager to get a good look. Aunt Lucy then said to me, "You see Tim, that wasn't so bad, was it? Now gather your clothes so they won't get dirty and put them in the bag." She then said to the girls, "You girls can go swimming now, Tim will be right behind you." The three scampered down the path and jumped into the water. I turned and bent over and gathered my clothes. I quickly glanced back at Aunt Lucy and caught her looking directly at my naked butt, and it made me more uncomfortable. Now at this time, I need to mention something that explains what happened next. I was unusual in that puberty had come to me prematurely. My doctor had said my “precocious” development happened to a small percentage of boys and was normal. By ten I had grown pubic hair, and my penis and testicles had fully developed by the time I was thirteen. Further, I’ve blessed with good endowment. So after I’d placed by belongings in the bag, I turned and faced her
This left my genitals on prominent display for her to see. In what appeared to be an uncontrolled reflex, her eyes dropped down and she looked directly at them. Her eyes grew wide and jaw dropped unable to hide her shock. In retrospect, I’m confident she’d not seen the genitals of a developing young man, probably because she only had daughters and no brothers when growing up. She had not expected to now be looking at the fully developed dick and balls of a young man replete with full pubic hair at the base of my penis. She couldn’t conceal the smile developing in her gaping mouth, and for a brief moment we were both silent as she looked at my genitals. She quickly got her composure back and said “You know Tim, you have nothing to be embarrassed about, you are quite a handsome young man!” Today, if an adult female made such a comment when looking at a naked boy, it would be deemed inappropriate. But I don’t think her remark was a sexual one. She had seen my obvious shame in hiding my genitals from her daughter and the look of embarrassment on my face, so it was her way of removing that feeling while paying me a nice compliment. Although an authoritarian, she had never been mean or harsh with me, and her compliment did indeed make me feel better. I smiled at her and said “Thank you”, and we enjoyed a brief moment of fondness as we smiled looking at each other.
She then said “Now go have some fun”, and I turned to walk into the river while she sat in the chair we’d brought and began reading a book. Although she’d made me feel better about my nudity, I was still uncomfortable with the girls seeing everything. So far I’d deftly been able to conceal my genitals with my hands from their prying eyes, and I continued covering them as I approached the river. Irene splashed about not longer interested, but Allison and Susan stood there waiting for me watching my approach as though the big reveal was imminent. I scurried into the water until my waist was below the surface. The water was cool and we swam about splashing each other. It was far better than the chores back at the farm. We then played the classic game “Marco Polo”, which is a form of tag with the pursuer holding a hand over their eyes. When it was my turn, I covered my eyes and shouted “Marco!”, and the girls responded “Polo” as I tried to tag one. Both Susan and Allison had moved to shallower waters, which meant had I pursued them the water would only be up to my knees. I’m certain they were doing it intentionally. I feigned like I didn’t know they were there, and fortunately while I was still in deeper water Irene got close enough to tag her. After a while, Irene walked onto the bank and was intensely looking at something up in a tree. I saw movement and realized it was a large, bushy squirrel. The other girls got out to join her, and while covering my genitals, I did too.
Getting out of the water wasn’t thought through and would prove to be my undoing. I thought they’d not pay much attention to me given I was standing behind them. As we looked at the squirrel, Irene said, “Look! You can see it’s got tickles. That means it’s a boy squirrel.”. Hearing this, both Allison and Susan burst into laughter. Susan said to Irene, “They’re NOT tickles, they’re TESTICLES!”, and it was so funny even I joined in laughing. Irene responded, “What are you laughing about?” Susan said to her, “All boys have TESTICLES, not tickles.” Irene then said, “That means Timmy has testicles too!” The three turned around and were now smiling at me. I had again become their center of attention again, but this time it was far worse. Allison said, “Of course he does. Timmy, why don’t you let Irene see your testicles?” Susan then added, “Yeah Timmy, go ahead, let us see your testicles.” I froze in shock. Looking at my hands still guarding my genitals, Susan said, “Come on Timmy, don’t be shy, let’s see them!” Giggling, both she and Allison each grabbed a wrist and began to pull my hands away, saying “Let’s see Timmy, don’t be bashful...haha!” I then looked over at Aunt Lucy facing us as she read her book, hoping she would come to my rescue. There was no question she was hearing our conversation. Paying little attention to my looking at her, she was clearly unsympathetic. She had previously said it was acceptable for girls to see boys naked, so I guess to her it was a perfectly appropriate request of which she approved.
But keep in mind my aunt Lucille was an anomaly of those times. There is, of course, no question other mothers from that same period would have strongly objected to allowing a boy to be nude in the presence of their daughters, let alone orchestrating it. But these were rural folks. Their knowledge of the outside world came primarily through the single Delco radio they had, and they were thus typical in how such insulated people would treat such delicate matters entirely differently than city folks. And I’m sure she had learned about boys’ anatomy growing up in the same way, that is, playing “doctor” with the neighbors’ kids, which was very common back then. This gets us back to those women that wrote Dear Abby about the permissiveness of mothers intentionally setting up situations such that they too could be in the presence of naked boys just to satisfy the girls’ curiosity. Lucille was not only the same, but even more so given the times. By then I was tired of trying to avoid the girls’ curiosity about my body, so I acquiesced and said, “Okay Irene, you can look.” I then stood facing the girls with my legs spread a bit and lifted my penis up holding it against my stomach, then thrust my pelvis forward to present the girls my testicles. All three girls quickly bent over to get a close look at my balls, and their joyous elation in finally being able to satiate their curiosity was shown in their eager faces with wide eyes and big smiles. The girls started to loudly giggle thereby drawing my aunt’s attention.
I saw my aunt looking at me as I held up my penis to let the girls look at my testicles. I thought she would say something, but instead, she just smiled and began to chuckle as though what her daughters were doing was cute and clearly approving of it. I felt terribly awkward, but wanted them to think I wasn’t a helpless victim but instead a willing participant in their fun, hoping to protect any dignity I had left. So I too smiled, faked a laugh and joined them in looking down at my balls. Allison said, “See Irene, those are Timmy’s testicles, but boys call them ‘balls’.” Irene said, “Really? Hey mom, do boys call them balls?” Lucille responded softly, “Yes dear, they do.” Irene then said, “Haha...I want to feel Timmy’s balls!”, then, without asking, she unexpectedly reached over and grabbed them! As she began to play with them pulling on my scrotum’s skin, her mother quit smiling, but what was she going to do? After all, SHE was the one that set all this up, and Irene was simply being curios. So my aunt just quit looking at us and casually resumed reading her book as though she wanted to let things go their natural course without her involvement. Susan, being politer, then said “Can I feel them too Timmy?” I said, “Sure, why not.”, then thrust my pelvis in her direction presenting her my balls. After she fondled them, I then let Allison have her turn. As I said, she was very pretty and I had a crush on. So when I felt her supple fingers examining my balls, a chill shot down my spine and my heart began to race. It was a sensation I had not expected - I was getting aroused by her touch, and I liked it.
I was filled with mixed emotions. One was that of humiliation and the other was the sexual arousal that followed Allison’s touching my balls. As soon as the girls had satiated their curiosity about my balls, I let my penis drop back down but that only prompted a new focus of the girls – this time it was my penis itself. Irene mused that my penis head looked a bit like mushroom. This started a discussion about how boys are often circumcised and Susan pointed out correctly to Irene how she could tell that my penis was also circumcised. Allison told Irene that there were other names for penises, including “dicks” and “cocks”. Irene said, “So that’s Timmy’s dick, haha”, and Allison confirmed it, “Yes, that’s his dick.” For a brief moment, we were all studying it when Irene said “I want to feel your dick!”, then impulsively reached over and again without asking started to play with it. Seeing their interest, I invited Susan and Allison to also fondle with my penis. But it was a bad call on my part. As soon as Allison started to fondle the crown of my penis head, the inevitable began to happen and I was unable to control it. My penis began throbbing and started to inflate. This naturally drew the curiosity of Irene, although Susan and Allison knew exactly what was happening. I didn’t know what to do and so I just froze. Irene asked what was happening to it to which Allison replied “Timmy’s penis is telling us it wants to make babies!”. “REALLY?” Irene asked. “Yes!” said Susan.
For a moment, all four of us watched my penis grow and stiffen into a full erection pointing right at them. Allison then said to Irene, "That's what is called an 'erection', but boys call it a 'boner"'. Saying the word "boner" made the girls laugh loudly as Irene repeated the word. Allison pointed directly at my erection laughing and said "See Irene, his boner means that Timmy is 'horny"', which drew more explaining followed by more laughter. I had intentionally stood so that Allison was blocking Aunt Lucy's view of it as I was afraid it would get me into trouble. But when she overheard the laughter and the girls' discussion, she dropped her and marched over to see what was happening. She could have easily surmised what was occurring and shouted at us from her chair, but she wanted to see for herself. She walked over and stood to my side so that she could get a full unobstructed view of my erect dick. She looked right at it and her jaw dropped. It was clear things had escalated from being just an innocent activity to satiate the girls' curiosity about boys' "secrets" to now a lesson in boys' sexual arousal. For a moment, she just stood there stunned looking directly at my erection. To this day I wondered what was going on in her mind. Was she just prolonging the moment to make sure the girls had ample time to study it, or was she too interested in getting a good look? Although it was just a couple of seconds, it felt like an eternity. She no doubt saw my look of humiliation and knew I hadn’t planned this.
She was not upset with my indiscreet display, and no doubt knew I couldn’t help it. Redirecting the girls’ attention, she said “Okay girls, we need to be leaving soon. Go finish playing in the river”, and the three girls walked back into the water. I believe my aunt actually felt sorry she had put me in such an embarrassing situation. Smiling, she said to me, “Tim...” I stopped and looked at her. “...I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for us since you’ve gotten here. I’m going to take you all out for ice cream after we leave.” I told her thanks then walked into the river joining the girls. From that point forward, I never again hid my genitals from them. There was no point as they all now knew intimately my “secret”. After a while, Aunt Lucy called the girls to the shore and took them back to the area concealed by the large bushes so they could dress in privacy. I then saw other people coming down the trail, which made me nervous. Susan, who was now dressed, was talking excitedly, but I thought it was to her sisters. The girls finished dressing, so I walked onto the shore to get my clothes from the bag. Susan eagerly shouted at me, “Timmy, come over here!” I responded, “In a minute. I’m going to get dressed now.” But she was persistent and shouted, “You can do that afterwards. Come here...hurry!” I assumed she wanted to show me some critter, so I trotted
Susan was on the other side of a large tree surrounded by a cluster of thick bushes. As I urgently raced around them, I was horrified to come face-to-face with two girls I’d never met. One was “Becky”, the girl that went to school with Susan whom she’d shouted hello to earlier from the trail. Susan said, “Timmy, I wanted you to meet my friends from school Becky and her older sister Donna.” I was in a state of shock and stood there facing them. As though my genitals were the center of gravity, both girls’ eyes dropped and glared right at them. Donna said, “OH...MY...GOD! HE’s NAKED!!”, then began to laugh loudly. Becky then pointed at my dick and said, “I can see his wiener, HAHAHA!!”, joining her sister in laughing at me at my expense. Susan then said, “Timmy likes to swim naked, so my mom lets him, haha!” WHAT?! How could she say I *wanted* to swim naked when she had heard my pleading with her mom not to? And why didn’t she worn me they were there but instead hurried me to come quickly so that I didn’t have time to dress first? Susan was often mischievous, and I’m certain she *wanted* her friends to be able to also see me naked. Maybe it was her way of sharing something with them to build friendship, or perhaps, wanting them to witness it so that they could corroborate her stories about it when talking to friends at school. I never figured out why she did it other than knowing from her smug smile she thoroughly enjoyed doing it.
I was noticeably blushing. What exacerbated my humiliation was how pretty Donna was. Even if I were clothed her beauty would have intimidated me when talking to her. But here I was stark naked. Obviously embarrassed as hell, I stammered, “Uh...hi...Becky, hi...uh...Donna.” Donna said, “Uh...hi naked boy!” as though to mock me and the girls continued laughing hysterically. The girls eagerly chatted among themselves, with the subject never veering from my being naked. If they had changed the subject even in the slightest and invited me into the conversation, I probably would have stayed and talked with them. But right as I was about to leave, their mother, who had been further back on the trail, suddenly came upon us. Seeing me standing there clearly shocked her. It was no secret skinny dipping happened here, but the sight of a naked boy my age talking with her daughters made her jaw drop. Her eyes dropped to look at my dick, which as I mentioned, was advancedly developed. She said, “OH MY! Sorry for the intrusion! Come on girls, let’s go and leave them to their privacy!” This brings up another point. As noted in the Dear Abby columns, back then not all mothers were condoning of boys swimming in the nude, and this mother was obviously less approving of it than my Aunt Lucy. Upon leaving, I turned my head to see the girls not obeying their mom, but instead remaining behind standing there, smiling and gawking at my naked butt as I walked off. And who could blame them?
After that final insult on my dignity, I dressed and we left. Today, many would argue that my aunt was guilty of abuse and that I had been somehow violated. But such an indictment would ignore how things were prior to the social rights movement of the 1960s. My aunt had no intention of inflicting emotional distress on me, and truly believed that boys would jump at the chance to swim nude, regardless of who was there. And back then this was absolutely true for many. She simply wanted to educate her daughters about male anatomy during a time when nudity was never published or seen, and this trip presented her a marvelous opportunity to do that. I’m sure she was not expecting how fully developed my genitals would be, nor that her daughters would want to play with them resulting in their witnessing an erection for the first time. However, given her approving smiles, these unexpected “accidents” made her daughters’ education even more fruitful, which rather than finding objectionable she was delighted seeing them as fortuitous events. The girls were also always kind to me and saw my stay with them as the highlight of their summer.
The day at the river, she had put me in an extremely humiliating situation with her daughters. But she was a rural mother in very different times and had thought I’d have been happy to frolic about naked in front of her daughters. And to her credit, although I was initially mortified by it, after that day and particularly that intimate evening with the girls in my bedroom, I changed. From that day forward, after my chores I’d strip off all my clothes in the laundry room and walk stark naked through the house to the shower, passing the girls and even chatting with them. And the girls were always cheerful when seeing me in that state. When my mother finally came to get me, the girls embraced me with affectionate hugs. Irene began to cry asking the adults why I had to go, and why couldn’t I move in with them, and I was touched by it. Aunt Lucy then told me she hoped I’d come back and stay with them again, and I said I’d be happy to and truly meant it. In retrospect, sharing my naked body with her daughters was a positive experience for all of us, and if I could go back in time, I’d not change a thing with the exception of instead of the embarrassment I’d simply have enjoyed it more.
Yes, times are VERY different now.
Early Days at Deep Bottom Hole, Wallace, North Carolina
Story by: Lenora Jones - "Days of the Young Souls"
I grew up in the 1950s in a very rural part of North Carolina in Duplin County, a few miles from Wallace. Cape Fear River ran about a mile from our home and offered us opportunities to swim during those times when the summer heat was unbearable. Bear in mind, air conditioning wasn't a widespread luxury that it is today. I have many fond memories of those summer days swimming with the other kids in the area.
Cape Fear is a blackwater river which on one bend of it had a sandy bank and on the opposite side was Deep Bottom Hole. Deep Bottom was so deep that none of us could ever touch the bottom. The deep water and sandy shores provided us rope swings as well as a great place to lay in the sun.
I was about 12 years old when I went there for the first time. Upon my arrival, I was surprised seeing that not a single boy swimming was wearing swimming trunks. It was just the way it was back then, and have heard that even today, skinny dipping is still done by the few brave souls that refuse to let tradition die. But back then, it wasn't just a few of the boys but instead all boys swam nude at Deep Bottom, at least when I was present. Many of them came from poor families who viewed bathing suits as a luxury only rich boys could experience.
But I had no problem at all with the many boys frolicking about me naked, nor did they seem to mind that I and a couple of other girls their age were swimming and playing in the same waters with them. Unlike today when kids can see nudity by simply turning on their computers or television, in my time the only time I saw a nude male was either in a book on classical paintings or natives in a National Geographic, so having the opportunity to view so many boys with their entire bodies completely revealed provided me an education about parts of the boys' anatomy usually kept hidden. My curiosity was also fueled by growing up in a highly conservative family where such things were never discussed. The boys could not have cared less about my presence and my preoccupation in looking at they genitals. In fact, some would stand right in front of me and not even turn around as they urinated, wherein I'd watch the entire spectacle in amazement. If penis envy exists, it was at those times when I saw how conveniently they would wield their penises in my direction and let loose as quickly as just turning on a sink faucet, followed by a reflexive shake or two then a quick bolt back to their buddies. With us girls, relieving ourselves was a process that had to be thought about and planned in advance with great care, particularly since modesty demanded we do so where even the crickets could not spy upon us as we did, and we had the added burden of keeping clothes clean and dry as they wrapped our knees together. The alternative for those of us girls that had not worn our suits would be to get our clothes wet while we waded into the water as none of the girls would dare to be so brazen as the boys and disrobe. The boys never liked the modesty the girls displayed and sure made a strong effort to convince us to also take our clothes off, but of course I never did.
But perhaps the part of the boys' anatomy that most captivated me wasn't their penises, but instead their testicles. As I watched their balls bobbing about as they swung from the rope or running around and jumping into the river, I could not figure out their purpose. I even ventured to ask one of the boys about it, and he laughed so loud I was embarrassed for asking. No one had explained to me anything about sex, so one of the older boys there explained how their sole purpose was to produce sperm, but as I looked at his as he explained it my pondering the matter only intensified my curiosity. It wasn't until a few years later I learned of such things, but it wasn't from my parents.
Catherine Talks of Her Aunt Virginia
Taken from a Yahoo women's group
I remember having a conversation with my Aunt Virginia when I was young regarding growing up in the early years of the twentieth century. Virginia was actually my great grandmother's sister, and was the "black sheep" in the family as she did not fit the conservative values of the family. She told me that before prohibition she was a "flapper" and sang and danced while drinking and smoking with men, something that ostracized her from the rest of her family. But this made me like her all the more as she was always fun, and when I was told to stay in my room as punishment for something, she would sneak in and slip me some cake and a hug.
Aunt Virginia told me about growing up in the days before World War I in an open and candid way I would never have heard from anyone else. When I asked her about when she first learned about sex and boys, she began by telling me how the Calvinistic Doctrines followed by her family meant they were to learn things based upon Bible allegories to explain the facts of life. She said, however, that her real education of boys' anatomy came interestingly during a trip she took to Denmark to stay with cousins at a small chateau their family had near the coast. During that vacation she said she was flabbergasted when she learned swimming customs on some of the European shores were quite different than where she was brought up, and that it was normal for all boys to swim nude. When she told me I laughed in disbelief, and she smiled and said it was indeed true. I asked her if she and her cousins skinny dipped with the boys, but she said she did not as the standards for girls was different in that all girls wore one-piece swimming suits while all the boys were completely naked. When I asked her about whether it bothered her that the boys were nude, she just laughed and said "No, I was all for it!"
She then described one point in time when playing in the dunes with some of the boys and how she received quite the education on boys. She said it was when she learned that not all boys look the same down there, and that when she looked at the penises on the boys some were circumcised whereas others are not, yet she did not know at the time what it was all about. She said two of the boys stood side-by-side and presented their penises for to the girls to look at, and when she asked why one of the boys had foreskin and the other didn't, the circumcised boy said it was because he was Jewish. This then led to her telling me about Jewish customs, which was quite bizarre yet interesting for a young protestant girl, particularly when she told me about a "bris". She joked about how they could tell which families at the beach were Jewish as all she had to do was look at the boys' penises.
As she told me these things, I could not fathom what it would be like to be a 12 year old girl at such a beach with boys my age running about in such a state, as my parents would have had a conniption. In fact, as she told me, I suspected she was pulling my leg. But when I asked my grandmother, she confirmed it and rolled her eyes saying "That's your Aunt Ginny for you!"
The Good Old Days When Men Swam Nude
Letter to the Editor from Jody Hudson - New York Times
Main Article the Letter References: New York Times - Fashion & Style
To the Editor:
As a graduate of a high school with a swimming program (Bayside High School, Queens, class of 1957), I have often looked back with a sense of wonder and slight bewilderment on the requirement in those days that boys had to swim in the nude (as I recall, the girls had to wear scratchy wool one-piece suits).
I thought nothing of it at the time, and I believe that that was also the custom at the Y and at the Boys Club.
Over the years, I have mentioned this to people and have been met with reactions ranging from simple disbelief to suspicion.
It was most reassuring to read that male swimming in the nude was ''commonplace just 50 years ago in New York City'' and that it has a long tradition.
Jody Hudson
New Bern, N.C., April 28, 2005
Posted Here: New York Times - Letters to the Editor
Dreaded "Family Night" at the Y
Taken from Yahoo! - Omaha community blog
William Casey, Omaha, NE 2003
I grew up near downtown Omaha in the 1950s. I believe it was about 1952 when I was just about to turn 13, my mom insisted I take the YMCA class for boys to learn to swim. The downtown Y was the old one prior to moving to 20th Street in 1969. It was a cold building and I remember constantly shivering, which was worsened by having to swim in the nude, which was typical of all YMCA classes for boys back then. Although I was well into puberty, my smaller size for that age put me in the swim class with the 11 and 12-year-olds, which was fine for me as I was the biggest in the group.
Swimming bare-assed naked in those swim classes was not such a big deal, particularly since a lot of us didn't have swimming trunks. But what I and the other boys were not prepared for was the final day when we were to be tested for our YMCA swimming badge. Notifications were sent to all families such that they could come and watch their boys earn their certificates. My father was overseas due to the war, and mom worked nights, so I was alone. Perhaps it was due to the younger age group I was assigned, but no one saw any issue with us boys marching out into the pool area stark naked with all the boys' families in the bleachers watching. As I walked into the pool area, I was horrified to see the sisters of some of the boys that were actually in my 7th grade class staring right at me. Upon seeing me standing there facing them completely naked, one giggled and elbowed another and when their eyes dropped down to look at my genitals, I swear I wanted to run back into the locker room. Unfortunately, we had a gruff instructor who yelled constantly, and the last think I wanted was the added humiliation of him harshly scolding me as I stood there in the nude in front of these girls. He even had us line up for roll call between the bleachers and the pool with all the boys standing at attention facing the families that came, who were packed in the bleachers like sardines. So I bucked up and stood there facing these girls just a few feet in front of me as the looked down to see me in all my glory. And rather than allowing the boys to get into the water to preserve whatever dignity was left, he told us to continue to stand by the pool as each group of boys completed their swimming tests. Thank God I passed as it would have been salt in the wound to have the added humiliation of failing my test in front of the girls.
I saw the girls later in school, and although there were some smiles like a sly cat, no one ever mentioned it. I still can't understand why families were allowed into the pool area, but things were very different in those days. Boys openly being seen nude almost common back then, not like it is today. Regardless, it was every bit as embarrassing for me then.
Sheep's Green at Cambridge
University of Cambridge Research;
Statements by Gwen Raverat - 1952 (Period Piece)
In the area around the University of Cambridge, England, there lies a bucolic semi-rural meadowland known as Coe Fen. On its western border is the Cam River, and on the opposite banks are the flat meadows known as Sheep's Green. During the mid 19th century, Sheep's Green became immensely popular for swimming by men and women. In 1877, a local resident, John Hodson, built Hodson's Folly, a structure that could allow him the ability to monitor his fishery while also keeping a watchful eye on his daughters as they swam in the river. Mixed-gender swimming occurred in the 19th century, but only the stronger female swimmers were allowed to join the men in the deeper waters. However, in 1896, the genders were separated when the city authorities built female-only bathing sheds in a more secluded spot across from Hodson's Folly. Gender separation then continued throughout the town's swimming areas until after WWII, and it wasn't until 1966 that mixed-gender swimming areas were once again popular.
As evidenced by the many other reports and articles on this website, prior to 1896, mixed-gender swimming was not uncommon at Sheep's Green. As this Cambridge Research piece indicates "While women bathed in voluminous costumes, before the 20th century it was usual for men and boys to swim naked." As Gwen Raverat (grand-daughter of Charles Darwin) described in Period Piece, her account of a Cambridge childhood in the 1890s: “All summer, Sheep’s Green and Coe Fen were pink with boys, as naked as God made them; for bathing drawers did not exist then: or at least, not on Sheep’s Green.”
Ms. Raverat obviously experienced first hand walking about the shores of Sheep's Green and Coe Fen as stark naked men and boys enjoyed bathing in the waters all about her. As discussed above in the Research paper, Hodson's own daughters no doubt swam and played in the waters in their "voluminous costumes" while their male play mates were all "naked as God made them". This should not be surprising, given the many photos presented on other pages of this site evidencing the presence of clothed girls playing with naked boys in waters at the seaside, rivers, and, famous places such as Trafalgar Square. But what is more interesting here is the statements that men too enjoyed these same popular banks, also always nude.
The Cambridge Report can be read here: Going With The Slow Flow
Swimming at My Friend's House
Told by "Thomas" - Google Forum
I remember the hot summer days growing up in Kansas City. At the time, not all homes had window air conditioning units as in the 1940s and 1950s, they were still somewhat of a luxury for many folks. When I was about 11 or so, my friend, Reggie, got lucky when his parents installed a play pool for the kids in his backyard. Suddenly, he became quite popular. I remember that when I'd go to his house, his mom would have us boys strip our clothes off and jump in as she watched us from the kitchen window. We were all naked as jay birds as we splashed about having the time of our lives.
Sometimes his sister and her friends would join in on the fun with us. My memory of those times is consistent with the other stories, and that is that the girls were never allowed to enjoy the pool in nature's own but wore their suits. It just wouldn't have been proper for them to be naked around us boys. But for us boys, splashing around buck naked just seemed natural, and not a one of us was concerned about our being that way. I miss those carefree days.
Brothers Enrolling in YMCA Swim Class
Retold by "Mike" - Yellow Fever's Story Board
In 1958 I was just 15 when my family moved from the country into a large town upstate and my mother duly signed both myself and younger brother up for swimming lessons at the YMCA there. I had never been to the YMCA before, and I was amazed at how big a place it was with their own basketball courts, and a big indoor pool area.
My brother and I were checked in at the front office while our mom filled out forms and paid the fees. The man at the desk led us to the locker rooms and we waved goodbye to our mom. Once in the locker room we were shown where to put our clothes, told to undress completely and go straight out to the pool where class was waiting. Both my brother and I were very nervous it being our first time and the fact that we were to be out in the pool naked. We could hear all sorts of noise and as I entered the pool area I was surprised to see how big the pool was. I could see there were several groups of boys in each corner of the pool doing different activities with different coaches.
I noticed that one of the coaches (with the smaller boys group) was a woman! I couldn't see her face, but the unmistakable form of a female figure in a one-piece costume made my heart flutter with nerves. She was gesturing to the group of young boys of about 8 or 9, and I just couldn't believe it. A male coach smiled and approached us both realizing we were not sure where to go. He asked our names and pointed my younger brother in the direction of the female and said he would be in the beginners group because of his age. He also told me to report to her to find out which group I should be in. I was mortified by this and slowly walked toward her with my younger brother, who seemed equally uneasy with his nudity in front of her.
As we approached I noticed that all the boys in her group were young and about my younger brothers age but the group next to her was a group of about ten boys my age all with pubic hair and quite grown up. In fact, as I looked around the pool, I noticed that there were naked boys of all ages about. She saw us both approach and smiled and I was very conscious of the fact that her eyes momentarily glanced down to my penis. She said "hi" and "you must be new here" and again looked me up and down from head to toe.
It was a strange experience I remember. Not even my own Mom had seen me naked for a couple of years and this strange woman was looking at me in the all together. She led us to a small desk at the side and wrote both our names down on a clipboard. It felt strange standing next to her and I was very aware of my own exposed penis in her presence. But she was very professional and directed me across to the next group, which had senior boys like me and, to my relief, a male coach.
At the end of the session, ours was the last group out of the water and we had to file past the same woman as she stood talking to another male coach. Not only was I aware of my own nudity as I walked past her looking but also the fact that the rest of the boys in my group were also all developed boys of 15 or 16, and all naked too! After that first day, I got used to her being there as I am sure all the other boys had. But I have never forgotten that first experience and it is etched in my memory like a movie.
Gary R.: Story of Maggie
Retrieved from Topix Forum
I was born shortly after the great war growing up in the 1950s. The attitudes of that era were markedly different than today. When I was in my early twenties, I dated a single mother who was ten years older than me. And during those times, it was more of an item than today wherein it's common to see older women taking on boys 20 or more years their junior. Her name was Margaret, and she went by "Maggie". Well into her 30s, Maggie still had a wonderful muscular, curvaceous figure due to her having been a competitive swimmer and still keeping in shape.
I once had a very interesting conversation with Maggie, and although it's been years since, I still remember parts of it as it was very surprising at the time, and by today's standards, would be downright news worthy. I'll try to retell it as best as I can.
Maggie had been both a swimming coach for girls as well as a lifeguard when she was younger having worked at a local high school and at community pools. She was one of the first female swim instructors at the local Y. She had a forceful, dominant personality and I believe took delight in instructing others to comply to her demands, which I'm guessing was why her first marriage ended. But she was also beautiful, and knew how to use her looks to get her way.
I remember one conversation we had where she mentioned insisting upon teaching her own boys to swim as opposed to the local school as she didn't trust the school's instructors, who she knew from her previous vocation. Being headstrong, I knew she felt she could do a better job of it, but I asked if teaching boys to swim was different than girls. She then told me that she had been a swim instructor for *both* boys and girls. I thought about her saying that, and remembered that during my swim classes, there were only male instructors. It seemed logical that men instructed boys in physical education and women instructed girls. Further, it struck me as even more odd because even at the time we had the conversation, all the boys' swim classes at the local school and community pools still had rules that boys were never to wear swimsuits in the pools due to filtration problems it created. So I asked her about it.
She told me that she was never the listed swim instructor for boys, but due to frequent shortages of male instructors, it was not uncommon for her to teach the boys' swim classes as well. I then questioned her about how they got around the rules that all boys were to swim naked. To my surprise she said they had not, and that that rule was still enforced even when she taught the class. I asked her "you mean all the boys were naked in your classes?" and she confirmed it. She then explained she only taught the classes when other coaches called in sick or there were no male instructors to teach the course, and she would fill in. She said the community recreation pool center center had no choice because there were policies that no boys could be in the pool area without adult supervision. She also said that policies were set in writing that no boys were to use the pool while wearing a swimsuit. So they had no choice in the matter when she coached the classes, and all boys in her classes had to be naked.
When I asked her how old the boys were, she replied "Most of the time they were just toddlers or children, and it really wasn't a big deal for them as being naked as a child was a natural thing." I then thought about what she said, and asked for clarification..."most of the time?" She then told me that on a few occasions she had to fill in as instructor for the older boys' swim classes as well. When I mentioned how they really must have not liked that, she yet again surprised when she said that the boys were by then well into puberty and interested in girls, and reminded me she had done well in beauty pageants at that time, so it seemed a lot of the boys got a kick out of it out of having her teach the class. I then pressed it indicating that some of the boys still had to have been embarrassed swimming naked in front of a young attractive woman, and her response was that there were indeed some that were, and a couple even tried to wear swimming suits they had brought. I asked her what she did about it and she told me that when it came to rules, she was pretty strict with the boys. When they wore their suits, she would tell them they had to remove them immediately, and they always did. I saw a slight smirk when she said it, and knowing her dominant personality and propensity for ordering guys around, I said, "you must of enjoyed demanding those pubescent boys strip naked in front of you." With a sly look she said ""you know I would never admit to that" , then laughed, which I took as a confirmation she did get some thrill out of exerting such control.
She then said with a sly look that some boys even seemed to enjoy prancing about naked in front of her, and when I asked her how she knew they enjoyed it, she said "You know - unlike girls, when a boy becomes excited, he can't hide it physically." implying that she would observe some of the boys' penises stiffening because of their being naked in her presence. I asked if it bothered her that some boys were sporting erections in front of her, and she giggled and replied "of course not - it was kind of sweet, I didn't mind it at all". I said "right - given how you like younger guys, I bet you gave those 'sweet' boys special attention". She said ""Well, yes...I've always been a tease - you know that!" Given how attractive she was and her mischievous disposition, it wasn't that surprising she would have fun being flirtatious with a lot of those naked boys solely to see if she her teasing them could produce erections on them. I joked with her and said "you know, you can be quite devilish", and she winked at me and we both had a good laugh.
Remember, this was a different era in a more innocent time. Female instructors and male students were never thought of in any kind of sexual way, and having a "professional" swim instructor teach boys back then seemed perfectly appropriate. Given those times, I think there was nothing wrong with teaching the class and having some innocent fun teasing those naked boys, and I'm sure the boys loved the attention as well. In fact, it makes me chuckle thinking about her having such fun.
She was one sexy, beautiful girl, too bad it didn't work out for us.
Experience in Junior High/High School - Administrative Assistant
Told by Agnes S. - Google Forum
When I had graduated from high school in the late 1950s, I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, so I found a job as an administrative assistant for a local unified school district wherein both junior high and high school classes were held at the same school in the Chicago area. I worked in the main office as well as the athletic office assisting in mostly clerical activities, which meant a lot of filing. The school had an indoor pool, and in those days, the boys were all required to take swim classes in the nude, although the girls wore color-coded bathing suits, depending upon size. For the girls, it must have been humiliating having to advertise to the world their body size through color code. But for the boys, the humiliation must have been far worse given that their entire bodies were presented completely uncovered to everyone else in the class to see and judge.
The pool area had an office that overlooked the pool. The office was never used and became a repository for old file boxes. The boxes filled the room, and part of my duties included finding places to store old boxes, or an some occasions, finding an old file for one reason or another. This meant I would have to go into the old office from time to time. After a few weeks, I heard a swim class being conducted in the pool area below, and without thinking about it, I looked out of the small windows of the office and to my shock and surprise, I saw a line of naked high school boys standing at the pool edge during roll call. I jumped back away from the window shocked at the unexpected sight. I quickly got the files I was looking for and left.
Over time, I had to go back into the old office many times and eventually became braver. There were two column of boxes against the windows, which I turned diagonal to each other with a space in between that concealed me from any view below, and because the office lights were off, I was able to watch the class without concern about being seen. Unlike today whereby anyone can get on the Internet and see whatever they want, being a 19 year-old girl in the 1950s meant you never had an opportunity to see nude men outside of art galleries and your wedding night. So I have to admit, it was too much of a temptation to satisfy my curiosity, and over the next year or so, I was able to see the boys in all their glory on many occasions, and it was quite an education observing which ones were developed, and which ones weren't. During one specific class I remember particularly, I saw one of the boys who was known to be mentally slow (today he no doubt would have some type of diagnosis or medical condition for special needs), standing there in line facing my direction. My my eyes gravitated to his rather large, penis pointing straight out and upward in a full erection. Upon seeing this, the other boys burst into laughter and were teasing him about it. He turned red and was certainly humiliated, but was unable to articulate any intelligent response to the onslaught of harsh jokes and ridicule from the boys. The coach seemed unconcerned too. I really felt sorry for him.
I often think back on those days and the many beautiful boys I was able to view in all their splendid glory.
Writer Remembers Incident Similar to Dear Abby Article
Email received from "William" after visiting this site
I was immensely pleased to see someone put in a tremendous level of effort in telling the real history of this subject. You have documented in great detail many things, and your site even offers its readers verification through their own research - how brilliant! I understand how folks might doubt the stories of what happened back then, as I have personal experiences that I have told about my upbringing that many have also doubted.
In particular, I was downright floored when I read the Dear Abby articles, particularly the ones where the mothers thought it a good idea to require the boys to swim nude in front of the girls specifically to provide the girls an education as to boys anatomy - all the while arguing it would be improper for boys to view girls in such a state. I personally experienced this double standard when growing up, and it wasn't until I read those articles that I was able to verify I was not alone in my experience.
My story was growing up in a bedroom community outside of Kansas City. It was in the early 1960s, and we boys were required to swim nude during swimming classes at our school. Unlike some of the articles, I was never bothered by females entering the pool area because I can honestly say it never happened during the years I participated in those swimming courses. Our swimming coach was male, and unlike posts on some of the other forums claiming otherwise, he never was nude, nor did he ever get in the pool while the boys were there.
However, I do distinctly remember when I was about 11 or so, I would go swimming at our neighbor's pool. The family had two boys and three girls ranging in age from about 8 through 15, if I remember correctly. The boys, who were around my age, always swam naked, even while the sisters were in the pool. But similar to the Dear Abby article, I specifically remember the mother responding to my asking why the girls didn't swim nude also saying that it was improper for girls to be naked in front of boys our age. But when I asked her why it was okay for girls of the same age to see boys naked, she responded that that girls and boys were different, and that it was perfectly appropriate for boys to be naked in front of girls at our age.
My first time I was at their house and invited to swim with them, I said I would first have to go home and get my bathing suit. The mom said "No, you needn't do that - our filtration system is expensive and we don't want fibers damaging it. Just swim naked like Art and Mike". She presented in a way that implied it was not as an option, but a requirement. Yet her requirement was not at all surprising to me as it was the same response we got from our school, and as your site evidences, was the common response justifying the practice during that era.
The girls were already in the pool as their two brothers came dashing out the back door absent a stitch of clothing, which was an initial shock in seeing it. The mother then suggested I take my clothes off and leave them in a chair about 20 yards away as it would prevent them from getting wet as we splashed about. I remember the feeling of slowly taking off my shirt, tennis shoes and socks first. I remember how awkward and embarrassing it was for me to be completely undressing in front of the girls. In fact, not having sisters growing up, I had never been naked in front of any girl of any age, let alone my own age. Making it worse for me was that one of the girls, Alice, went to my school and was a grade ahead of me. I saw her almost every day and had a bit of a crush on her. The final removal of my briefs was the hardest and I pulled them down and placed them in the chair. I then turned around and as I began to walk towards the pool stark naked, I remember the feeling of exposure and embarrassment of it. At that moment I had one of those experiences one remembers the rest of their life. I will never forget seeing every girl stop what they were doing and turn to watch me approach them, and from their vantage point they could see my entire naked body from head to foot as I approached them. I then remember looking into the face of Alice, and as with all her sisters, her eyes were starring directly at my penis and balls intently studying them watching them bounce about as I approached her. None were concerned about their mother possibly scolding them for starring at me in such a way and how uncomfortable it made me. In fact, I truly believe that just as that mother wrote in her letter to Dear Abby, these girl's mother was also of the mind that "boys should not keep their secrets from girls", and was possibly pleased her daughters had the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity by looking at yet another boy's genitals.
Over that summer, I remember spending a lot of time in that pool with them, and began to become more comfortable with my being nude until it was a none issue for me, and I was always naked as a jaybird every time. Indeed, I ultimately discovered I actually preferred playing in the pool nude with them, and at a point, even if I could have worn a bathing suit, I probably would have decided not to. It was liberating, and if it meant the girls got to have fun peeking at my goods, well, good for them, and I'm glad they enjoyed it!
Do You Recall Me Watching You Swim Naked a Few Years Ago?"
Posted by "Bobby" on Visual Sensations for Women Forum
I took swimming lessons at our local YMCA from 1961-66. Our classes were grouped by age. The teens beyond the age of 12 or 13 were given some privacy, as observers were discouraged from entering the pool area. I don't think there was actually a formal policy, it was just a prevailing custom that moms, sisters, and others did not go in when the "older boys" were practicing or having classes.
I know as a 13-year-old in 8th grade, when girls and moms could still observe us, I was getting quite "developed." I felt VERY EMBARRASSED to see girls in school sitting next to me that had seen me bare the day before at the Y. And well into high school they had good memories. I dated a girl when I was 16 in 11th grade. On our first date she commented, "Do you recall me watching you swim naked a few years ago?" I felt a sense of unfairness and shame over the situation.
This particular girl was the sister of another boy on the team. She had a crush on me and relished the chance to go with her mother to our classes. She was a regular spectator from about 6th thru 8th grade. During these years I went thru puberty and she later told me that she kept track of my "size" and pubic hair development. When she told me this we were both 14. She was disappointed that her days of observing me were now over.
I have two sisters and one brother. My sisters are one year younger and four years older. I think that I felt most uncomfortable being naked in front of my sister closest my age. She was the one who brought friends to the classes. Sometimes my mom would say "No" or only let her bring one girl. Mom would say something like, "Paul is embarrassed enough without you bringing four friends along. Just let Susan come." The logic being that bringing four friends was pushing the limits of propriety somehow.
I didn't much care that my older sister saw me. The age difference for some reason made me less self-conscious with her. Not that I liked it, though, even with her seeing me.
I was not usually overtly teased by my female classmates who had seen me naked. The girls tended to giggle among themselves about it. A girl who said too much directly about it to a boy was considered to be “loose” or “easy.” But when a girl would look at me and smile as I got up to give a book report in front of the class, there was no doubt in my mind she was picturing me as I appeared naked the day before at swim class.
I recall asking my mom and sister to stop attending my classes when I was 12. I began to feel very uncomfortable being naked around females as puberty set in and so did the other boys. We still had female lifeguards/instructors even up to age 17. I don't think any of us boys really liked the forced nudity, even at younger ages. But it was the way things were done. You just temporarily abandoned modesty if you wanted to swim at the YMCA. I used to feel very embarrassed if a girl in my school classes had seen me swimming naked the day before.
My Dad was on our YMCA's board of directors at the time I was taking lessons. He had absolutely no sympathy when I complained about how embarrassing it was being nude in front of sisters, moms, and other females my age. He had experienced the same thing as a boy and, "It didn't hurt me," he used to say. He said, "Concentrate on swimming and forget who is watching." Like I really could forget having perhaps 25 females seeing my penis at ages 11-13. And I did have erections a few times. Just awful if I couldn't get in the water quickly.
To me the strangest part of this was the atmosphere of extreme modesty in our house. If I was even caught in the upstairs hallway in my underpants, I was reprimanded. An hour before, I might have been naked in front of Mom & my sister at the Y. But heaven forbid they should see me that way at home. I could never figure out what the difference was? Dad would just say that modesty was more important in the home. Go figure?
Some of the other guys in the class talked about it one day and the consensus was that "this sucks, those women shouldn't be allowed to watch us if we have to swim naked at our age." Our only consolation was that in September we would enter 9th grade. For all high school classes the Y locked the observation area and we would not have to be nude in front of all our families.
I remember feeling very violated. It was all I could do to hold back tears of shame that she knew all my secrets of puberty. Also resentful of the YMCA for setting us up like that, having no respect for our modesty. The people who ran the Y just didn't "get it" that girls this age would experience a sexual thrill seeing boys their age naked.
I wished I could see the girls naked, but that was strictly forbidden. My sister also took lessons at the same Y on a different day, but all girls wore modest one-piece suits. And no guy would dare go in their locker room. Oh, the unfairness of it all, I thought.
My brother, the youngest child, endured swimming lessons naked until age 11. He was more rebellious than me and just made an awful fuss about continuing naked after he showed signs of early puberty. Dad even spanked him a few times over it. But he didn't care. "No way am I going bare-assed in front of all those females," he used to say. Finally Dad gave up in disgust. So he didn't face the humiliation in 7th & 8th grades like I did.
Shirts, But No Pants?
Messages Received from Forum Members
As people have read stories on this website, I keep getting similar reports from various men and women that were born in the 1940s or 1950s, and they discuss the culture of their times. It was not uncommon in many western countries that parents would have their boys wear shirts, but would not have them wear pants or underwear. Some of these stories are as follows:
"Bronco", is a 59-year-old Canadian that visited this site and read some of the stories, and then sent me several communiques. Growing up in the 1950s and early 60s in the Caribbean, he vividly recalls how boys being nude, even while in the presence of girls their age, was normal. He tells us, "A long time ago when I was much younger and still going through puberty, my parents would keep my brothers and I bottomless around the house, even when visitors and their daughters were around. We grew up quite used to being naked when others were not." Bronco indicates the word his parents would use for the boys' penises was "robins".
An interesting point Bronco brings up is that although nudity was very normal and innocent for the smaller boys, as boys progressed through puberty, their ignorance of the sexuality of nudity began to diminish when it became obvious he and other boys would become sexually aroused and get erections. He specifically recalls a neighborhood friend, Brian and Brian's sister would play together with the boys only wearing t-shirts, and how the sister would tease the boys as "she would enjoy watching how our robins got hard." However, for Bronco, the parents requiring the boys to be nude and the double-standard in that none of the girls were required to be nude was not a bad memory, but instead a positive experience. He indicates that times such as those when he was naked from the waist down while playing with his friend's sister, and, her enjoyment of watching him grow an erection, was actually a "thrill" for him. For Bronco, his sexual arousal during those episodes was an innocent, yet positive experience, both then and now, yet contradicts modern views that such experiences are often traumatic and negative for the boy. From this author's perspective, if both the boy and girl enjoyed the experience, there was nothing wrong with how the parents handled how the boys were clothed as only positive memories seemed to have survived.
In another similar story, Benjamin writes about how in the 1950s growing up in a small town in Connecticut, his parents too would not have him or his brothers wear pants, as being bottomless wearing only a shirt was the typical routine. He recalls "We had become so accustomed to not wearing pants or underwear that we never considered it an issue. In fact, I remember a time when my mother's sister brought her girls over while we were still playing about in the backyard wearing only our t-shirts. I recall seeing three girls staring at us from behind the kitchen sliding glass door, obviously shocked by our nudity and probably because they had no brothers. It was at that moment that for the first time I felt something like the story in Genesis when God imparted to Adam and Eve the sense of nudity and embarrassment. I remember them coming out in the backyard with my widely circumventing them and calling out to my mom to get my pants for me. She shouted back that she'd just washed them and they were still wet, and I'd have to wait until she could hang them out to dry, which meant the cousins would be long gone by then. I returned to the girls in the backyard suddenly realizing that the t-shirt I was wearing was older and had shrunk significantly to where the bottom of it was above the belt line and my naked butt leaving my genitals fully and prominently on display. The girls were obviously interested not being shy about gawking at my penis and balls. I think one thing that may have interested them so much as I remember I was just starting to grow pubic hair, and it was beginning to encircle the area around the based of my penis. So I decided to get it over, bucked up, and stood there facing them letting them look at my genitals to their heart's content while satisfying their curiosity. After a while we fell back into playing about as we normally would have, and I was fine after that. In retrospect, I don't fault my mother for forcing me to experience such exposure, as I had no negative feelings, and was fine afterward. And if it gave my cousins some excitement, well, good for them!
Mean Little Girls
Posted by "Ronald" on Yahoo Group Forum
I really don't know what all the brouhaha is about concerning boys skinny dipping back in the day. I grew up in rural Kentucky near Bowling Green in the 1950s and would walk with my buddies down a dirt path off of Old Louisville Road to go swimming in Barren River. I cannot think of a single time when we wore our trunks. It was not a big secret and we would often see folks of all ages and both genders walking right past us. They'd give a friendly hello, or a warning about going out too deep if there had been recent rains and the water was up on the banks, but I can't remember a time when anyone scolded us specifically about swimming naked as it had been done that way for generations.
On a few occasions, one of the boys' sister or girls that lived in the area might join us. They would never join us in our au naturale state as girls were expected to be far more modest and skinny dipping was something they just didn't do, at least around us boys, and I remember my mother lecturing my sisters about not swimming in such a state as they needed to protect "their purity and decency". Yet it seemed to be perfectly okay in our community for the girls to see the boys swimming naked as it just seemed to be the way it was done.
But some of the girls weren't always as sweet as their mothers' perceived. I remember one day, I was about 10 or so, when two girls happened upon us and joined our little group of boys swimming. As usual the three of us boys were swimming in the raw whereas the girls were in their dainty dresses trying to keep them from getting soiled. They had seen us before at the river and for us kids it was no big deal, which I later learned was a major difference between those that live in the cities and those of us that lived on farms. Farm life is tougher, we worked harder, and if we wanted to strip down and jump in a watering hole, damned any guy that said he didn't like it.
On that particular day, the boy versus girl competition that always seems to happen at that age came down to the girls chiding us and reciting the old rhyme - "girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice but boys were made of frogs and snails and puppy-dog tails!" I don't know why this upset me, but it did, so I reminded them that boys could beat up girls - it was a dumb thing to say and soon regretted it. One of the girls said it wasn't so and as I sat there next to her naked while leaning back on my hands and my legs stretched out, I asked her why not. She then said "Because of this!" and then reached over faster than lightning and grabbed me by my balls before I could do anything about it. Without hesitation she squeezed them as hard as she could. I mean it REALLY hurt and I began screaming and crying immediately while she and her friend looked down at her hand tightly gripping my balls. They laughed and giggled as she mocked me "Poor Ronald - poor little boy!" while she continued to not let up her release. She said she knew of the vulnerability we boys have between our legs from her reeking havoc on her little brothers. And now she wasn't hesitant about trying her skills out on an older boy. She then stopped and got up quickly, and as I sat there crying holding onto my aching balls the two walked off smugly proud of themselves and giggling with her friend saying "Haha, you sure bested him, sure taught HIM a lesson!" And of course the girls' triumph in that exchange taught me a good lesson and her parting statement was one hundred percent right... Girls = 1, Boys = 0.
This Skinny-Dip Was No Fun
From: Commentator David Kaplan; Houston Chronicle - June 22, 2008
At Lovett Elementary in Meyerland, we remembered the Alamo and square danced. I lived a sheltered life: stayed with the same class all day and rarely looked beyond it. My next stop, Johnston Junior High, was less stable, more threatening. Student life teemed with subcultures I had never seen. One macho group of boys wore "Hollywood" haircuts with wings on the sides and shiny candy-apple red shoes.
But my strangest memory of Johnston has nothing to do with any student's behavior. A school policy from those days has left me mystified.
Boys had to swim naked in gym class.
People are shocked when I tell them. They don't believe it.
It's true. The same HISD [Houston Independent School District] that gave me a conduct grade in sixth grade made me show up to class naked in seventh grade. We boys rarely talked about it. I don't think the girls knew. They wore bathing suits. I never mentioned it to my parents. The practice went on for decades, which means many thousands of Houston men went through this. Some may have blocked it out.
I feel like I'm part of a new recovery group: My name is David and I was made to swim naked in public school.
After all these years — I attended junior high between 1961 and 1964 — I wanted to get to the bottom of it: how HISD came up with the idea and when and why it stopped. I contacted HISD spokesman Terry Abbott, but he knew of no documents or HISD administrators to interview. He acknowledged that he'd heard references to nude swimming "as something that happened a long time ago."
Let me take you to a time long ago. At Johnston in the early 1960s, swim class began when our gym teacher met us in the showers and ordered us to march in a single-file line naked to the indoor pool. With other Johnston coaches, I'm told, there was swimming instruction, but my swim class was like free time. Some boys jumped high off the diving board and did cannonballs. Others played water polo in the deep end, hurling volleyballs and shouting. The rest of us stood in the shallow end, waiting for the period to end.
There were two types of boys in our swim class: Those who didn't care that they were naked and unselfconsciously had fun. And those like me who were thinking: Get me out of here. A couple of hoods in the class, older than the rest of us, made things more menacing.
Swimming wasn't the only thing I hated about gym — it was all pretty nasty. In the gym locker room, the wild boys were at home. Once, hoods grabbed a kid and stuffed him in a towel hamper so deep that you couldn't see him.
Now and then the subject came up with male classmates: Why do they make us swim naked? The common answer — "Threads from swimsuits clogged the pool drain" — didn't make sense, because girls wore bathing suits. Plus, you didn't hear about other pools around town having this problem.
To find out how long the practice had gone on, I contacted Houston natives. After talking to my younger cousins, brothers Lee, David and Jay, I determined that nude swimming was abolished at Johnston in the mid-'60s, although the years could have varied from coach to coach.
Men who went to Cullen and Burbank junior high schools told me they swam naked, too. Ted, a 90-year-old man I know, swam naked at Johnston and San Jacinto High School. He entered Johnston in 1930. So, HISD boys swam naked around four decades at least, probably longer. I tracked down a former Johnston coach, James Ashmore, who was a Disney version of a gym teacher. Young, upbeat and fit, he actually seemed to believe in the value of physical education. Ashmore worked his way up to HISD athletic director before retiring.
Unlike my coaches who left us on our own on swim days, Ashmore gave swimming instruction. "As far as I know, it was part of the HISD curriculum," he said of the nudity. "I don't remember parents complaining. It was just the procedure of the day, and no one had a problem with it."
After talking to a man from Chicago I got a surprise: He swam naked in junior high, too.
Just how widespread was this practice?
At the risk of ending my chances of becoming a district attorney, I went online and Googled the search words: "boys," "nude," "gym" and "class." Lo and behold, there was an online forum on the topic:
It turned out that men from across the U.S. swam naked in school — in Blue States and Red States — and they were sharing memories. To my astonishment, the "fibers clogging the drain" theory had made its way around the nation. A woman joined their discussion. "Is this the best kept secret in the world?" she asked. The forum turned into an angry debate. On one side were those who were OK with the policy. It's perfectly natural, like skinny-dipping, they wrote. Besides, men and boys swam naked at the YMCA.
On the other side were men who found it degrading. Swimming nude in school wasn't like swimming in the raw with your buddies at the lake. They didn't choose to do it. They were forced.
It's a moot argument. Nude swimming would not take place in a middle school today. "All hell would break loose," said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. "No parent would put up with it."
So I'm back to asking, "Why?"
I turned to the YMCA, since nude swimming there had been mentioned on the online forum. I didn't find out much after calling the Y's national office, but the Encyclopedia of Washington State History Web site states that males swam naked at YMCAs across the U.S. beginning in the 1890s. Hygiene was a reason cited. The Web site noted that it "may have evolved from problems created by the long wool suits ... in fashion, which apparently shed so much they gummed up the pool filters."
So, it was the bathing suit fibers!
Maybe there is a connection between nudity at the YMCA and in junior high, and public school officials were copying the Y. After all, the YMCA's swimming program has always been highly regarded. As I talked to more people, a new mystery emerged: Why does the idea of swimming naked in public school seem awful to guys my age and younger while older men tend to see it as no big deal?
For example, when I asked 90-year-old Ted what it was like to swim naked at Johnston, he said, "Never thought anything about it really," whereas many guys from my generation hated it. I turned to Hank, a brilliant, big-picture guy I know. Hank, who is 81, noted that in past decades, men had compulsory military service. In the Navy during World War II, he recalled, "we went through swimming and lifesaving in a group, and all of that was naked ... with everybody from every walk of life, and you had not one shred of privacy."
He recalled how in a small Texas town near his childhood home there were free public baths, one for males and one for females — the only source of hot water for many area residents. "As a country, we're not aware of how much privacy we've gained.", he said. "The world then and now is so different it's unimaginable."
Hank noted that the strong economy America has enjoyed since World War II has made the country more affluent, and with wealth comes privacy and privileges. His contemporaries had much to do with that prosperity. After saving the Free World in WWII, they went to college on the GI Bill and raised their families' standard of living. From Hank's perspective, I could see a seismic shift in how our culture views men and how men see themselves.
After talking to a guy about my age, I could see how class differences also shape us. He had a naked-in-a-group experience I never knew. In 1967 at age 19, my friend David climbed on a bus with other Texas City boys from blue-collar families. They were bound for an Army induction center in Houston. It was at a time when I was entering university life, unlike David. Before the draft lottery came along, college protected me from the military service and Vietnam.
The bus ride from Texas City to Houston was full of bravado, David remembered, but once they walked in the U.S. Army building and officers told them to get naked, "It got quiet as church".
"These were Army officers, and you were naked," he recalled. "You could literally smell the anxiety." Some of the boys went straight from the induction center into the Army that day, and then, Vietnam. While other young men risked their lives as soldiers, I took anthropology classes and skinny-dipped at Lake Travis in Austin.
I sought to find out why we swam naked in junior high and why it stopped, and here is my answer: America changed. By the time it got to my generation, the practice had become a strange relic. My swim class at Johnston was a window to another time.
Original website link to this Houston Chronicle Articles:
Woman Remembers Embarrassing High School Incident
Told by K.D. on Google Groups - Urban Folklore
My high school had a swimming pool, and part of PE involved weekly swim class. As for most PE classes, swim was not co-ed. We girls brought our own towels and other necessities, but were given suits every swim period, which we turned in at the end of class to be laundered.
The door from the boys' locker room to the pool was locked when the girls had swim, and vice versa, for obvious reasons. But, especially since it was common knowledge that the boys wore NOTHING during swim class. Zip. Nada. In the buff.
A former male classmate of mine came through town a few years ago, and spent the night at our house. The topic of the boys wearing nothing for swim class somehow came up, and my husband could NOT believe it. He said that he wore a suit in his HS swim class, and was convinced that the story of the boys wearing nothing was a massive joke perpetuated by the boys to tease the girls. No amount of persuading would convince him.
In my particular graduating class, the knowledge of the boys swimming nude was especially well-known due to an incident, which was so memorable that it was specially mentioned by the emcee at our 20-year reunion. One of the male members of the swim team was planning on doing some extra swimming during a free period he had one day. Thru an incredible coincidence, he was unaware that a girls' class was currently in the pool, but more importantly for some unknown and unlucky reason, the door from the boys' locker room had been left unlocked. You guessed it -- he walked into the girls' swim class stark
naked!
Even telling my husband of this story would not convince him. Two years later, we were in Seattle, and visited another former male classmate of mine, who verified the story of the males swimming nude. My husband remains convinced (so he says), to this day, that it isn't true.
I can't PROVE they swam nude, but we always accepted it as truth. My brother-in-law, who went to the HS on the other side of town, reports that they wore suits in swim.
Are there any males out there who can attest to this practice? More importantly, WHY was it done?
Original link to discussion: