In the public imagination, people tend to think of the past as more repressive when it comes to nudity, but this does not necessarily reflect reality. As we here at HHCIB are always very interested in historical examples that counter that perception, we were quite happy to stumble across this page on the Historical Archives website that begins:

“Following are photographs collected from numerous sources depicting mostly young men and boys swimming, playing at the beach, lake or river completely naked and often with clothed females present.”

Check out the images and descriptive text, as well as some historical film footage, here.