Swimming at Saltair
By: usermattw
Tags: antiques, photography, Saltair, swimwear, Utah, vintage photography
Category: Groups
Click here to view it larger.
As summer starts to wind down (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere), I thought I’d share at least one more picture of happy bathers in the sun. And so many this time! It’s a real photo postcard, whose manufacturer’s markings (AZO, four triangles pointing up) indicate it’s dated 1904-1918. But there’s otherwise no other information. Or so I thought. When I enlarged it to check out all the various faces, I noticed that a number of the men have something written on their chests. It was tricky to make out, but I finally figured out it says “Saltair”, which is the name of a former resort on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The Wikipedia page here has information and pictures of it. And this page here even has a souvenir photo of swimmers in the water that looks a lot like mine!
Pics of Then 
Great postcard! That’s quite a scrum!
It is! Some people are clearly posing for the camera, and some people look like they’ve just gotten swept up in the mob. Given the similar photo in the link, I assume getting photographed there in the water was an established thing, but I guess orderliness wasn’t a priority.