The nudists were the first modern sun-worshippers, the first to
embrace sunshine out of choice rather than medical
necessity. For a
long time “sunbather” was a euphemism for nudist. One of the first
British societies for social nudity was called the Sun Bathing Society,
and there was also a British Sunbathing Association and a National Sun
and Air Society.
Most of the private grounds dedicated to
clothes-free living were called “sun clubs”, clearly indicating the
ideal around which their activities revolved; ...”
But we
Brits are a plucky lot and hope must spring eternal in the nudist
breast. It is easy to snigger at the stodgy earnestness of these early
sun-worshippers, but by fighting for their own freedoms they made
possible a lot that we take for granted in our relationship with the
sun. Their tireless propaganda for clothes-free sun exposure helped to
make bathing machines and woollen one-pieces a thing of the past.
In
fact, before the 1930s, there was no real distinction between
“sunbathing” and “nudism”. Given what constituted acceptable and even
“legal” beachwear at the time, complete nudity and what is nowadays
standard beachwear might just as well have been one and the same thing.
For many it was. A newspaper from May 1925 reports how Bournemouth was
strenuously objecting to sunbathing on its beach. It pointed out how
beach attendants had powers to prevent anyone sitting on the beach in
their bathing costumes. Bathers must “walk straight into the sea and
straight back to their bathing tents”...