1930-1939

In the 1930s men’s swimwear began to expose a good deal more skin than it had in the 1920s. The skirt that covered the shorts disappeared and the openings for the arms and head that had begun growing bigger in the previous decade became distinct cutaways that served to reveal the back, sides, and upper chest.

Mabs of Hollywood, led the way in making knitted wool bathing suits a thing of the past in the 1930s when it began to fashion swimwear from Lastex, a woven satin finish elastic and silk material first used in the manufacturing of girdles could be made of cotton or Rayon. It was more comfortable against the skin, and it eliminated the stretching, sagging, and the weight of wet wool.

In a savvy marketing move, Mabs ensured its success by making swimsuits for Joan Crawford, Loretta Young, and Jean Harlow, three of the movie industry’s leading ladies at the time.

The other big swimwear companies followed suit and developed and patented their own forms of Lastex. Loretta Young, the actress, also appeared in an advertisement for Jantzen.

Around the same time that the Topper hit the market BVD, a maker of men’s underwear, introduced a line of men’s swimwear designed by Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weismuller.

Bette Davis, an actress, was so popular that Lastex or not, women wanted to replicate her look in a bathing suit. In 1933 Butterick Publishing Company in agreement, Warners, R.K.O., and Paramount issued exact copies of a dozen costumes in its Starred Patterns series. One of them was for a swimsuit worn by Davis in Warners The Working Man, of 1933.

Although they were designed by Chanel in 1922, these wide-legged ensembles were still popular in the 1930s. Here you can see The New Yorker cover from August 26, 1933, which presents an image of contemporary life at a seaside soda fountain.

Butternick Early Spring Home Catalog, 1936.
Introducing new two-piece women’s bathing suit style.

Medium format folding camera series made by Eastman Kodak Co. in Rochester,
NY from 1937-1948.

*On view at The Bryan Museum

One-piece bathing suit in a dressmaker style made from a cream-colored synthetic fabric printed with an abstract pattern in red, blue, green, and yellow flowers and hearts. Its sweetheart neckline terminates in narrow straps that cross at the back. The straps pass through loops of fabric at the lower back and then are tied together to secure the top. The overskirt covers attached cream-colored jersey shorts.

*On view at the bryan museum

Causeway overpass construction, Austin Bridge and Construction Company, Oct.26, 1938. The causeway carries traffic over Galveston Bay and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The original causeway was built in 1912 and carried both rail and auto traffic. The auto traffic was transferred to new causeways built to the west in 1939.