It’s the turn of the egregious Masher and the chaste Bathing Belle today. Perennially camera shy, the Masher was a popular subject for cartoonists in magazines like Punch and Passing Show who made fun of his over estimation of his appeal to the opposite sex. Sensing his attempt to transcend the barriers of class, they sneered at his sartorial efforts to pass himself off as a dandy. Here he is portrayed as a weedy cigar-smoking weakling leading a trio of decorous innocents into dangerous waters where aquatic frolics could soon go wrong. In the second image his roving eye directs his male gaze on to the most conspicuous unattached females. The British comic postcard was a popular subject for collectors, though I suspect the numbers are rapidly dwindling. I find them hard to take thanks to the combination of clumsy drawing and coy innuendo.
Images of Bathing Belles are ambiguous figures, composed to project mild titillation while embodying maidenly virtues. Victorian anxieties around uncontrollable passions triggered by glimpses of female flesh inspired a wide range of modesty-preserving costumes for the female swimmer. On postcards their expressions often suggest deep discomfort with the effort of flirtation. After the Great War attitudes and fashions changed to favour female exposure over concealment and postcards uneasily reflected that, whilst trying to avoid offending older generations who held to their puritan instincts. Many modern reproductions of Victorian swimwear can be found on eBay - perfect if you’re planning a John Ruskin-themed beach party.
