One of the items in the Katikati Heritage Museum's small collection of vintage clothing is this men's swimsuit. Branded with a green fern logo and the name "Pacific," it was probably made, and used, in the 1920s and 1930s. One-piece "elastic" knitted wool suits became common after the Great War, and the American Association of Park Superintendents' official 1917 Bathing Suit Regulations specified that men’s suits should have a skirt
that covered the shorts. By the mid-1930s they were being manufactured with Lastex, a woven satin finish elastic and silk material. The Australian swimming team caused an uproar at the 1936 Olympics by wearing bare-chested Speedo shorts. (
Vintage Mens Swimwear by
Collector's Weekly)
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| Group at the beach, Lake Winnipeg, Canada, 1921 |
This photograph taken in 1921 shows a range of woolen swimming attire, including two men's one-piece costumes very similar to that in the museum's collection. (The handsome man at the right with a cigarette hanging from his lips is the author's grandfather.)
Post Script (31 Aug 2014):
Society member Shirley Arabin has sent in this snapshot of her father-in-law wearing a bathing suit on Mount Maunganui Main Beach.
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