Memories of long ago beaches

So I recently (and unexpectedly) ran into a friend I hadn't seen in years, probably a decade or more. As we were catching up, talk turned to the beach where we used to hang out - one within walking distance of where we grew up. And when we grew up - young people today probably couldn't go walking a mile, maybe a mile and half, without an adult, even if they were with a group of friends., much less hitch to and from the bench..

Anyway, that got me thinking back to the wonders that I saw back in my early to mid teen years, usually around this time of year. You see in late August the swimming season is almost over around here, and it's too late in the season to buy a new suit. I don't know if you can even find store selling them - and if you can then you'd take whatever was left in stock. Of course today you can order a new suit from countless online places, but back then if it wasn't in stock then the best you could do was a mail order and that would take weeks to arrive.

So back then, and maybe now... To be honest, I haven't been to a beach in a decade or two. Air conditioning matched with the fact that I'm not the world's best swimmer means I don't really think about heading to a beach. Anyway, back then there was no one thinking about buying a new swimsuit in late August, not even if a growth spurt (or even just 3 or so months of regular growth) meant that you had basically out grown your suit.

Which meant that the summer after I discovered girls I discovered the joys of seeing a girl in a swimsuit that she had outgrown. Tight, very tight suits. Some of them (especially the one piece suits) constantly needed to be hitched down so they would hug curves rather than expose untanned parts of the girl's cheeks... Sometimes exposing those cheeks so often that a second, fainter tan would form.

My friend was reminiscing about how back then "bikini" lines were rarely shaved and how sometimes we caught sight of pubic hair poking out from the top of a bikini that didn't cover everything that had back in the spring, but I mostly remember the well defined or partly exposed bottoms on those growing girls. I could swear that sometimes I caught sight of spanking marks on those exposed bottoms, but maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.

Part of the joy was of course the anonymity of the beach. We were part of a horde of teens (and others) splashing around. You didn't know most of the people there, you probably went to a different school than most of them, so who cared if a girl you didn't know giggled over an inadvertent tenting in your swimsuit? You could splash out until the water was over your waist and that would hide your natural reaction to the delightful sight a teen goddess who swimsuit was riding up enough to show off most of her bottom cleavage, or of another girl whose suit was so skin tight that it showed every outline of her body not covered by its padding.

Ah, the joys of walking through the memories of your youth.

A wonderful piece of reminiscing about one's younger days and a world now gone forever. Its like someone said about Woodstock-it could never happen today, the mindset is totally different.
Especially true is the part about young people never walking anywhere- no wonder we have a problem with overweight kids. On the other hands its great that its become much more acceptable for girls to be athletic and so many playing on their school sports teams.And they are often the ones who do really well academically too. Not everything now is bad.
This thread gives a great picture of adolescence in that day, how not only was there less body seen but sexuality was something that was talked about in whispers, or in the locker room.
Loved the description of wet swimsuits!

I may have posted this reminiscence already, and apologies if so. But my first experience of seeing a public spanking (apart from at school) was on a beach. I was aged about 12, on holiday with my parents at a seaside resort - I think it was Broadstairs in Kent. Near us on the beach were three young people, probably late teens/early 20s: a very pretty girl, and two guys who looked enough alike to be brothers, or maybe cousins.

The girl seemed to be the gf of the older guy, but was amusing herself by flirting outrageously with his younger brother. After a bit the younger guy had enough of this. He grabbed the girl, pulled her down over his lap and started spanking her. For the period (mid 50s) she was wearing quite a brief bikini, and the visible area of her bottom was soon blushing very sweetly.

The girl yelped and wriggled indignantly, demanding help from her bf. He just laughed, saying, "You asked for it." After about two dozen good hard spanks the younger guy let her up, and she furiously rounded on her bf, yelling, "Why didn't you stop him, you bastard?"

He just laughed some more, so she took a swipe at him. Next thing she was down over his lap, getting spanked even longer and harder. There must have been at least fifty people nearby with a good view of the proceedings; most of them were laughing and no one seemed at all inclined to interfere.

By the time the girl was released again her target area was bright red. She stood up, rubbing her bottom, yelled, "You bastards!" and stormed off down to the sea, presumably to cool her well-heated cheeks. The two brothers watched her go, laughing. A man nearby called, "Good for you, fellows!" I was entranced, of course – in fact it was just as well I was lying face-down - and replayed the scene over again in my mind for years afterwards, usually with me as one or both of the spankers.

We left the beach soon after to go to lunch, so I didn't see what happened when the girl came back from her swim. But later on that day I saw the three of them sitting together in an ice-cream parlour. They were chatting and laughing, and all seemed on the best of terms.

I still remember June 1975, because this happened the same week as my birthday. Our church had a young, single and fairly liberal new preacher. The swim club was the center of our community; there were 150+ people on the team and so the pool was swamped in the summer.

I can still remember the stares and jaws dropping when Reverend FLL showed up with his date one day. Not only was she wearing a TINY bikini to a family pool (with a preacher), she apparently didn't believe in shaving and it looked like she had Jimmie Hendrix's head sprouting out from all sides. On top of that she didn't shave her underarms either (although her legs were shaved). Everyone just froze and gaped at this strange creature in our midst. The girls in our group were grossed out but I'd say the guys were pretty much entranced at the show. And she was totally blase about it while he made the rounds introducing her to everyone.

My parents weren't there to see the show but the chins were wagging for days afterwards among the congregation (of course we teens had a different viewpoint about the experience than our parents probably did!). We moved about 6 weeks later and I never really stayed in touch with anyone from there. The preacher had a very unique name and I just tried Googling it but didn't come up with any hits so I don't know what ever happened to him. But I can still vividly remember that day from 40+ years ago.

I also remember the early - mid 70's fondly. Where I live, Southern California there were a number of nude beaches along the coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara. They're long gone now but throughout the 70's and 80's I visited quite often. The 70's were definitely a time when women would sport a nice thick bush. No or at least, not much shaving back then. However towards the late 80's you would see women fully shaved. Nice!!! I have numerous stories about interesting things I saw but not enough room here.

On another subject also brought up here. My best friend had a cousin named Kathy who lived in the next town over from us. The summer of 1971 we would venture over to Kathy's house. Both parents worked and her older sister Joyce was rarely home. One time we knocked on the front door, Kathy answers in a bikini with massive pubic hair sticking out the sides. Close match to the color of the hair on her head. I was in a trance. Kathy obviously thought nothing of it. We hung out up in her room. Nothing sexual happened between her and I but we did like each other. It's definitely fun to think back.

To throw in a torch here, no offense I hope, it's a wonderful summer memory that you bring up, it's just that this comment made me remember; what really is this obsession with body hair in North America? I mean, we've got hair under our arms and between our legs for a reason and what's the big deal about it? Why do women get grossed out by seeing something normal and why the relentless shaving, as if desperately trying to look underage? And from what I've realized from porn it has become even more ridiculous recently, even men shaving their body hair, making them look unreal between their legs. Just a curious thought from the other side of the Atlantic.

My mother and I have this "discussion" about bikini line shaving all the time -- I don't/won't and she thinks it's gross. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who thinks it's gross can direct their eyes elsewhere, and probably should anyhow! (I don't shave my pits either -- I will occasionally shave my legs if absolutely "necessary" but I usually avoid that as well.)

To throw in a torch here, no offense I hope, it's a wonderful summer memory that you bring up, it's just that this comment made me remember; what really is this obsession with body hair in North America? I mean, we've got hair under our arms and between our legs for a reason and what's the big deal about it? Why do women get grossed out by seeing something normal and why the relentless shaving, as if desperately trying to look underage?

You have to remember that this was a lily-white conservative Southern community in the 1970s. Just the skimpy bikini was enough of a shocker because the girls all wore one-pieces since we were all on the swim team (although for some reason it didn't bother people that all of us guys were running around in Speedos that left nothing to the imagination). To have her pubic hair poking out all over made her stand out even more. Throw in underarm hair and the twitching started. Frankly it didn't bother me that much because I grew up in Europe so it wasn't my first rodeo. But she pushed a bunch of folks way beyond their comfort level, although no one wanted to come out and directly tell our preacher that his girlfriend dressed inappropriately.

But you're right that Americans seem obsessed about destroying all the hirsute evidence. I remember an article I read a few years ago where they discussed the issue. A pediatrician from NYC was explaining that pubic hair growth is a measure they use to gauge sexual maturity for girls, but she can't use it anymore because all of her teen patients are bald or trimmed. In the same article a spa owner said that a woman brought her 8 year old daughter in and wanted a full body waxing for her; not because she had any abnormal hair growth but just to get her used to getting her body waxed. The owner turned her down but was confident the woman was able to find someone willing to do it. So you spread hot wax and rip off what minuscule hair she has on her body, solely for the purpose of getting her used to a lifetime of torture? But if she'd spanked her daughter in NYC she'd probably have been arrested for child abuse...

Interesting, I hadn't seen it that way; that pubic hair showing outside the swimsuit might be interpreted as a part of the sexuality that should be kept hidden. But then it somehow turned into shaving, maybe to 'cover' the same hairs? It's not that I can't find a meticulously shaved woman sexy, on the contrary, it's just the view that the hair is shaved to get rid of something gross and not shaving to look sexier that surprised me through the years. Or at least that's the impression I got when I was in the States in the 80s and talked about it.

The story about the eight year old is sad, but it seems to be the melody of today. Here it's a constant argue that there are sexy looking thongs sold for six year old and up, which offends many people. I agree, it's a bit weird when we start to sexualize the children and things might go in the wrong direction. Sometimes there is a racket in the papers and the clothes are removed, but the year after it's usually back again. The funny thing, as someone mentioned, is that swimwear for men has moved in the opposite direction, the old speedos now having turned into pants larger than the shorts worn when walking to the beach, giving a ridiculous tan where men are white from their knees and up to their waists.

The funny thing, as someone mentioned, is that swimwear for men has moved in the opposite direction, the old speedos now having turned into pants larger than the shorts worn when walking to the beach, giving a ridiculous tan where men are white from their knees and up to their waists.

Yes I'm sure we all thought we looked pretty studly at the time in our Speedos, but nowadays you'd stand out like a sore thumb if you showed up to the beach wearing them.

I forgot to mention earlier that there is also a (presumably small) percentage of the population that utilizes that cleared forest space to add a tattoo. The one I remember best is a woman who had "PAY TOLL BEFORE ENTERING" tattooed on her pudendum. I'm sure it was hilarious in the moment but I wonder if it seemed quite so funny 5 years later.