Charles I.D. Looff and The Fascinating History of Carousels

By Mary Dodge Allen

Many believe that the beautiful carousel he built in Griffith Park inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland. 

Karl Jurgen Detley Looff was born in 1852 in the Duchy of Holstein, part of the German Confederation. He began working as a wood carver as a teenager. In 1870, after turning 18, he emigrated to the United States. 

Charles I.D. Looff (Public Domain)

Looff changed his name by mistake after arriving in New York. A customs agent began filling out his identification papers and asked Looff to state his middle name. In the Low German language, the letter J resembles the English letter I. And in the confusion of the moment, Looff pointed to the initials “I.D.” on the official identification form (thinking it was J.D. for Jurgen Detley). His name became Charles I.D. Looff from then on. 

Looff settled in Brooklyn, New York and began working as a wood carver for a furniture company. As a sideline, he taught ballroom dancing part-time, which is how he met his future wife, Anna Dolle, who was also from Germany. 

At this time, vacationers and local residents were flocking to the south Brooklyn beaches, and investors and entrepreneurs were actively developing Brooklyn’s beachside properties. Looff saw an opportunity. He decided that a carousel - also called a merry-go-round - would be a perfect addition to the attractions at the Brooklyn beaches.

After working at the furniture factory all day, Looff began bringing wood scraps home to his apartment, where he worked long hours, carving and painting ornate wooden horses and animals. He worked at this for nearly four years, before he married Anna in 1874.

Drawing of Mrs. Vanderveer's Bathing Pavilion, Brooklyn Public Library Collection

Looff's First Carousel:

In 1875, Mrs. Lucy Vanderveer’s Bathing Pavilion was completed on Coney Island. It was an impressive building, with a spacious restaurant and flags flying from three ornate cupolas. Somehow, Looff convinced the Pavilion’s manager to allow him to assemble a carousel inside the Pavilion. 

Charles I.D. Looff's first carousel at Coney Island, (Public Domain)

Looff is in the center of the photo, with an arrow pointing to him

Working alone, Looff fastened his wooden menagerie of animals and horses onto a circular platform he personally designed. His first carousel, which began operating in 1876, became the first amusement ride on Coney Island. 

Looff opened his own factory in Brooklyn and continued building carousels. As business increased, he hired other expert carvers to help him. Looff’s carved horses were known for their decorative ornamentation, glass eyes and tails made of real horse hair. 

Looff's Carving Style Phases:

During his long career, Looff's carving style had three distinct phases. His early phase (1876-1888) produced horses with gentle expressions. 

During his second phase (1889-1900) his horse heads were elegant, and the manes intricately carved. 

In his last phase (1901-1918) his horses became more stylized and flamboyant.

The Looff Family Carousel Business:

Charles and Anna Looff had six children, three girls and three boys. All of them, except the eldest child, Anna, would eventually work with Charles in his carousel business. (Anna was tragically killed in a trolley car accident at age 21.)

Charles I.D. Looff and family, seated on the 1895 Crescent Park Carousel, taken circa 1905 

(Public Domain)

In 1886, Looff moved his family to Rhode Island, where he set up a new carousel manufacturing operation. He installed a carousel at Crescent Park in Riverside, RI, known as “the Coney Island of the East.”

Nine years later, in 1895, Looff replaced this carousel with a larger, more elaborate one, containing 61 horses, 1 camel, 2 single chariots, and 2 double chariots. The 1895 carousel is now owned by the city of East Providence, R.I. and has been fully restored. It is still operating in its original location. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Crescent Park Looff Carousel in operation, 2008 (Wikipedia)

Move to California:

In 1910, Looff left two of his grown children to manage the family business in Rhode Island. He moved the rest of his family to Long Beach, California because he had heard of opportunities to build amusement parks on the West Coast. 

Looff built carousels at various locations, including Ocean Park, Redondo Beach, Santa Cruz and Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The Griffith Park carousel remained in operation until 2020. It is believed that this beautiful carousel served as the inspiration for Walt Disney to build Disneyland. 

Griffith Park Looff Carousel, no longer in operation (Public Domain)

Looff’s youngest son, Arthur helped him design and build the Santa Cruz Carousel and Roller Coaster, along with the Looff Pleasure Pier in Santa Monica (now called the Santa Monica Pier). To access the Pier, people entered through the impressive Looff Hippodrome. The Looff carousel inside the Hippodrome was illuminated with 1,000 electric lights, a spectacular sight at the time. 

Charles I.D. Looff, his son Arthur, his wife Anna (Public Domain)

In all, Charles I.D. Looff and his family built 45 carousels between 1876 and 1916. Looff carousels were installed at amusement parks across the U.S.

Charles I.D. Looff died in July 1918, in Long Beach, at the age of 66. For many years after this, his children continued managing the family’s businesses in New England and California.

Fun and Fascinating Facts about Carousels, aka Merry-Go-Rounds:

The word carousel has been traced back to 12th century Italian horsemanship competitions, called carosellos (Italian for “little wars”). These competitions tested the skill of riders, as they handled horses while moving in a circle.

Carousels run clockwise in the United Kingdom and counter-clockwise in the United States.

Each carved carousel horse has an individual number, stamped on a brass circle on its left cheek.

There are two types of horses on a carousel: "Jumpers" go up and down; "Prancers" go back and forth.

Many carousels have a "Lead Horse" decorated fancier than the others. It helped the operator to keep track of how many times the carousel went around.

Photo of a Looff "Lead Horse" on a 1908 Carousel, still operating in Massachusetts

(an example of the last phase of his carving - Flamboyant style horse)

Riding Benches called "Chariots" were first made just before the turn of the 20th century, for ladies who did not want to ride side-saddle in their long skirts.

A Looff 1908 'Dragon' Chariot Riding Bench (Public Domain)

From 1885 to 1940, the standard price of a carousel ticket was five cents. What a bargain! Have you ever ridden on a carousel? Have you ridden on one recently?

____________________

Mary Dodge Allen is currently finishing her sequel to Hunt for a Hometown Killer. She's won a Christian Indie Award, an Angel Book Award, and two Royal Palm Literary Awards (Florida Writer's Association). She and her husband live in Central Florida. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Hope and Love Christian Writers. 

Website: www.marydodgeallen.com

Recent release, anthology devotional: El Jireh, The God Who Provides

Mary's story, entitled: A Mother's Desperate Prayer, describes her struggle with guilt and despair after her young son is badly burned in a kitchen accident. When we are at the end of all we have, El Jireh provides what we need. 

Click the link below to purchase on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/El-Jireh-God-Who-Provides/dp/1963611608

Mary's novel: Hunt for a Hometown Killer won the 2022 Christian Indie Award, First Place - Mystery/Suspense; and the 2022 Angel Book Award - Mystery/Suspense.

Click the link below to buy Hunt for a Hometown Killer at Amazon.com:

Hunt For A Hometown Killer: A Novel: Allen, Mary Dodge: 9781952369704: Amazon.com: Books

Link to Mary's Spotlight Interview:   Mary Dodge Allen Author Spotlight EA Books

Hot Diggety Dog!

 By Cindy Regnier

Anybody like hot dogs? Um, that’s a ‘NO’ from me. Definitely not on my favorite foods list, but apparently, it’s a very American thing to eat so somebody must like them. The actual origination of the hot dog is a rather disputed topic, though probably German. So how did it get to the United States and why is it such a popular item? Let’s take a look and see what we can find out.

Two European cities claim to be the birthplace of the sausage: Frankfurt Germany, (that’s where we get the name frankfurter), and Vienna, Austria, (hence the term wiener.) Wherever it started, German immigrants brought hot dogs to New York in the 1860s. Street vendors began selling them as “dachshund sausages,” presumably because of their long oblong shape. And that, my friends, is where the American term “hot dog” was derived. New York became the main location of hot dog sales for many years (and may still be today.) 

 In 1871 a German immigrant named Charles Feltman opened a popular hot dog stand at Coney Island, forever associating the sausage with that park. Mr. Feltman developed a hand-sliced, elongated bun that set the precedent for the modern hot dog bun. by the 1920s, Feltman’s Ocean Pavilion restaurant was serving roughly five million customers per year, and selling somewhere around 40,000 hot dogs a day.

 Nathan Handwerker. a Polish immigrant, was hired by Feltman as a ‘bun-slicer’ where he made a whopping $11 a week. Handwerker lived entirely on hot dogs and slept on the kitchen floor for a year until he’d saved $300. Mr. Handwerker then used his experience with Feltman to open Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Stand, also at Coney Island in 1916. Knowing his former boss charged 10 cents apiece for dogs, Handwerker charged only 5 cents. Customers flocked to him, his competitor went out of business, and Nathan’s Famous was born.

By the Depression, Nathan’s hot dogs were known throughout the United States. Handwerker promoted his stand by sponsoring a Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, a tradition that continues today. As a side note; the winner in 2020 set a record of eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes. I don’t even want to think about how sick that guy must have felt afterwards. 

 By this time, hot dogs were widespread throughout the United States. They were served by the thousands at the 1893 World Expo in Chicago, and became standard fare at baseball parks around the country. Sound familiar? Easy to serve at home and able to be eaten on the go, the hot dog became a definitive American dish, with regional variations that include the Chicago dog (an all-beef hot dog served in a poppy seed bun with mustard, pickle relish, chopped onion, sliced tomato, dill pickle,  peppers, and celery salt), the New York dog (with sauerkraut, brown mustard, and onions), and, from Mexico by way of Arizona, the Sonoran hot dog (with pinto beans, salsa, mayonnaise, and bacon). Wow - do any of those sound like something you’d eat? U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt served hot dogs at the White House in 1939 to a visiting king, George VI of Britain. Some thought this improper. but as the story goes, the king asked for a second hot dog after finishing the first. Not surprisingly, hot dogs abound in Great Britain today and nearly everywhere in the world.

So, the next time you eat a hot dog (if you still want to after reading this), remember the fascinating history behind your tube steak. I’d love to hear about YOUR hot dog history. Do you enjoy them? What do you put on them? Are they strictly a summer picnic food or do your kids clamor for them all year long?

 Scribbling in notebooks has been a habit of Cindy Regnier since she was old enough to hold a pencil. Born and raised in Kansas, she writes stories of historical Kansas, especially the Flint Hills area where she spent much of her childhood. A graduate of Kansas State University, Cindy is active in her church and community. Her experiences with the Flint Hills setting, her natural love for history, farming and animals, along with her interest in genealogical research give her the background and passion to write heart-fluttering historical romance.

Coney Island Miracles: Live Infants

The first time I saw the Coney Island attraction billed as "Live Infants", I thought I was seeing things. But it was true. Premature babies in incubators were once a popular attraction of Coney Island, as well as many world expositions including the 1933 World's Fair held in Chicago, Illinois. With mixed emotions, I began my research into how it came to be that people paid hard-earned money to see a human infant.

Luna Park at Coney Island circa 1905. Courtesy of Shorpy.com

The man who created this popular sideshow attraction was Martin Arthur Couney, born in Krotoschin, Germany on the last day of 1869. He studied medicine with a specialty of pediatrics under the hand of Dr. Pierre Budin, a Frenchman who pioneered the use of the incubator for the treatment of premature infants. At that time in the late 1800's, incubators were being used for hatching poultry. Budin had a great idea, but hospitals were skeptical and lacked the vision to use this method of saving premature infants. 

To gain attention for his invention, Budin sent Couney to the 1896 Great Industrial Exposition of Berlin in the hopes that others would see the benefits. 

Baby Incubator Display at The Trans-Mississippi Exposition, 1898. Courtesy of Omahalibrary.org

Six premature babies on loan from Berlin's Charity Hospital, under the auspicies of Empress Augusta Victoria, were kept alive by artificial means, which wowed the crowds who paid money to see the infants. Three years later at the 1899 Greater Britain Exhibition, however, Couney was unable to borrow premature British infants for his exhibit and was forced to bring in three wicker baskets full of infants from Paris. (Courtesy of omahalibrary.org)

Baby Incubator on Display, Seattle World's Fair,
1909. Courtesy of Wikipedia
 

With crowds of amazed people at several world fairs and expositions gawking at the babies living in boxes, there was enough money for Couney to introduce the incubator to American hospitals. But the medical world still wasn't ready to accept the incubators. Parents, however, saw the incubators as a miracle and willingly handed over their preemies into Dr. Couney's care. He had already proved that the public was willing to pay for such an exhibit, and he knew that few parents could afford the medical bills of keeping their babies alive. Such an exhibit would also expose the public to the need for such an invention and perhaps enough people would goad the medical community into providing their own staff with incubators. 

With no shortage of preemies, Dr. Couney and his staff set up the permanent exhibit at Luna Park, Coney Island which you see in the photo at the top of this blog - the one that started me on this quest. And with trained staff ready to care for the babies on the road, and deal with the public, babies in incubators were exhibited in major fairs and expositions around the world until 1941. 

Baby Incubator Exhibit at the 1909 Seattle World's Fair. Courtesy of Wikipedia

But why would people pay to see babies? Consider this... in the early 1900s, most babies were still born at home with the aid of a midwife. If a doctor was available, he or she was only brought in for the difficult births - the ones we now call high risk. Premature babies weren't given much of a chance to survive and many were tucked into shoe boxes and placed on the oven door to keep warm, especially if the mother was fighting for her own survival. At the time, only 25% of premature babies survived. This was the reality of life. 

It didn't matter to the new parents that their baby would be on display in a sterile glass and metal box. What mattered was that their baby survived! 

In August 1901, the Scientific American Volume 85 Number 5 published the article, Baby Incubators at the Pan-American Exposition showing how the babies were fed through their nostrils with a gavage spoon. 

Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, 1901

Dr. Martin Couney closed his permanent exhibit at Coney Island and retired in 1941. At that time, New York's Cornell University had opened its own research and training center for premature infants. By the time he died in 1950, Couney had saved approx 7,000 of the 8,500 preemies brought to him for nurturing.

And what of the survivors? How did they feel about people paying to see them? That was the question asked of Lucille Horn in the interview, Babies on Display: When A Hospital Couldn't Save Them, A Sideshow Did. Lucille answered: "It's strange, but as long as they saw me and I was alive, it was all right." For the full interview including an audio version, click here. 

Another article with lots of photos is: Survivors Praise 'Incubator Doctor' Who Put Preemies on Display in Early 1900s.


Videos on the sideshow exhibit as well as the survivors are:

'Incubator Babies' Praise Doctor Who Saved Lives  (https://youtu.be/rLBTOlrrubA)

Were Premature Babies Really Displayed in Coney Island? (https://youtu.be/5DzEMRngR1Y)




Also, the History Detectives TV show broadcast an episode called Sideshow Babies (Season 7, Episode 4), where the first segment is about a woman who was born prematurely and within days of her birth, the Chicago Board of Health took her away from her parents and placed her under Couney's care, where she was put in an incubator and displayed at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. She has in her possession a personalized souvenir cup commemorating the event. The history detective's quest is to find out if babies were really on display at this event. 


When I started the research, I was uncomfortable with the thought that anyone would make money off the exhibition of babies in a sideshow. I changed my mind however, when I read that Couney charged money so that the babies could be cared for and their parents didn't have to worry about the expense. To a Canadian, that's a big deal. The fact that all 4 of my babies were premature ranging from 4-8 weeks early helped settle it in my mind. I would have given everything I had if there was a chance to pull them through. I was blessed with doctors and nurses in NICU's that took my hand and pulled all of us through. Back in history, they did what they could as well. 

What about you? What went through your mind as you read this post? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yields fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, and The American Heiress Brides Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:

Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

Hang On for Steeplechase Rides

While looking at early 1900 clips for today's Steeplechase post, I found this 2 minute video that shows the action of a giant merry-go-round similar to the Luna Park one I showed in my last post, Unique Merry-Go-Rounds. It's right at the beginning of this video, Let's Go Coney! Island (1932) and used courtesy of British Pathe TV which has an extensive library of documentaries, movies and historical clips like this on YouTube.

Images of Steeplechase rides fascinate me because the closest I've seen at present day midways are usually the type where you squirt water, or roll balls, into a funnel-type hole and the amount of balls, or pressure, moves your horse, or other animal, racing across the booth. But watching a horse race, and riding a horse in a race, are totally different experiences. 

Steeplechase rides involved full-size horses which raced around an inside-outside track that often ran the circumference of the amusement park. They were fast, cozy rides where wooing men could hug their sweethearts as a safety feature without fear of reprisal. Children rarely rode alone, and safety straps weren't used until the third or fourth decade of the 20th century.

This black and white undated image from Wikimedia shows the Steeplechase Ride in action at Coney Island, New York. 

The Steeplechase Ride, Steeplechase Park, Coney Island, NY, undated. Courtesy of Wikimedia

This next image is a postcard of the same steeplechase ride at Coney Island, but with a different view. Also called derby races, they were the closest ride one could get to racing without a live horse, although derby rides were mostly used on carousels. (I'll cover carousel derby races in my next post on October 5th.)

Steeplechase Ride, Steeplechase Park, Coney Island, NY, undated postcard

The Steeplechase Ride at Steeplechase Park opened in 1898 with 8 tracks, but a large fire consumed it in 1907. The rebuilt ride reopened in 1909 with 8 tracks as well, but they were on two levels of four each. Somewhere around the 40's and 50's one of the levels was taken down and the ride ran with 4 tracks until the park closed in 1964. It never reopened. 

The following 33 second clip of the Steeplechase Mechanical Horse Ride at Steeplechase Park is fun to watch, either here, or on the YouTube site where you can read the comments of people who actually rode this ride back in the day. I can't quote them here, but it's very interesting that the ride was fast and there wasn't much to hang on to. 

The Forest Park Amusement Park in Chicago, Illinois contained the only Steeplechase Ride in the midwest. Built in 1909, the 6-track ride was gravity-driven whereby the wooden horses were pulled up the incline by chain, and then allowed to glide down and around the track like a coaster. Since the more weight the horse carried, the faster it went, romance-hungry couples used the ride as a way to squeeze tight without raising eyebrows. 

Finish on Steeple Chase, Forest Park, Chicago, Illinois, undated. Courtesy of Living History of Illinois and Chicago Digital Library

Forest Park's Steeplechase Ride was half of a mile long and built between the Chutes lagoon and the Giant Safety Coaster, as shown in the following postcard. Both Forest Park postcards are courtesy of Living History of Illinois and Chicago Digital Library.

Steeplechase Ride between Chutes Lagoon and Giant Safety Coaster, Forest Park, Chicago, Illinois, undated. Courtesy of Living History of Illinois and Chicago Digital Library

Although popular, in 1913 Forest Park razed The Steeplechase Ride along with others during restructuring to make room for newer rides. Today, the Eisenhower Expressway cuts across the location where Forest Park's Steeplechase and other rides once provided family entertainment.   (Source: http://livinghistoryofillinois.com/pdf_files/Forest_Park_Amusement_Park.pdf)

A gravity-powered 4-track steeplechase ride, Peck's Prancing Ponies, existed in Old Orchard Beach, Maine from about 1910 onwards. The 1909 patent by Charles F. Peck states, “The invention…will give the passenger a rocking motion similar to that which is obtained by riding a horse without injuring the person or any undue jarring during the manipulation of the device.”

Peck's Prancing Ponies, Sea Side Park, Old Orchard Beach, Maine, undated. 

Peck was right in that it was the nearest thing to riding a live horse, but from the videos and comments of a similar ride at Blackpool, UK, The Steeplechase is a thrilling and scary ride filled with jarring bumps and turns. How do I know? The Blackpool Pleasure Beach website states this: 

Get ready to ride the Steeplechase! Swing your leg over your very own horse and buckle up ready for a race with jumps, twists and turns. The Steeplechase is a one of a kind three lane steel coaster where there can only be one winner!

Under the usual height and physical ability requirements, we see you need the ability to keep your posture under "dynamic conditions" as well as "withstand high G-forces and/or sudden changes in direction of forces." Basically, they are the same as for any high-speed coaster. 

Although the Steeplechase ride at Blackpool wasn't opened until 1977, it is a very good representation of the ones that have been torn down to make room for "improved" rides. Blackpool's version runs 3 parallel tracks for a length of 1500 ft with 30 mph maximum speed reached. 

Here's a video of this modern Steeplechase ride, Steeplechase (Track 2 Green), Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Mounted On-Ride POV, from the viewpoint of a rider using a GoPro attached to the grab handle:



On the other hand, if you want to see what it looks like to someone watching from the sideline, check out this cool video of Steeplechase - Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Off Ride where it looks like they're going very fast and you can hear the kids' screams to match:  




The main difference I see between the original and the modern steeplechase rides is that the older ones weren't banked, therefore you didn't lean in and go smoothly around a corner, but stayed upright for a more jarring experience. And although I wouldn't want to lean over and stare at the pavement forty feet below, or another coaster crossing beneath my feet, I know that it's easier on the body if it's a smooth transition around the bend. 

I sure would like the opportunity to try out a steeplechase ride if I had the chance. 

Would you?


In celebration of this month's release of Austen in Austin Volume Two, I'm giving away either a print or digital copy (winner's choice) of Austen in Austin Volume One to one person who leaves a comment on this post before midnight, Sunday September 11th. 

Like the Austen in Austin Facebook page and keep up to date on all the giveaways of Volume One and Two.

Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yields fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, and The American Heiress Brides Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:

Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

Public swimming--a brief history

By Kathleen L. Maher

As summer arrives and the kids begin vacation, many of us look forward to trips to the beach or pool. But public swimming hasn't always been the ritual we enjoy today. The history of public bathing has been controversial at times and dangerous at others.

Ancient Rome had public bath houses. Finland and Asia had saunas. Native Americans had sweat lodges. Japan had communal baths.  In Judaism and Islam a spiritual significance was attached to ritual cleansing, and communities often provided common pools in which to do so. Medieval Europe offered them--places where people could go to cleanse their bodies, exercise, and socialize--though the church frowned upon public bathing due to the vices often associated. Then in the Renaissance, the thought of Black Plague effectively ended communal baths as people began to believe their own dirt protected them from the disease.

The first public swimming pool in America opened in Massachusetts in 1887. As cities became overcrowded and enlightenment about sanitation and disease accompanied the progressive movement, public bath houses for the working class sprang up for the purpose of offering the unwashed masses a place to cleanse. Until municipal baths opened, rowdy young men would bathe openly in rivers and lakes, making a public spectacle for Victorian eyes, so the general thought was to provide privacy and promote decency and relegate them indoors.

 Bathers in Northern cities seemed to mingle according to race, but not gender or social status. Women bathed on alternate days from men in these public pools. For wealthy and upper middle class suburbanites, country clubs and private societies offered a more exclusive and recreational pool experience.

In the early 20th century, leisure time opened up for the laborer. As weekends and "holidays"--the non-religious version of holy days--were given, amusement parks and public beaches became popular. Coney Island and Jones Beach in New York became sensations. Sunbathing, sand and shore entered the public psyche.

Around the same time as people began to flock to the beach, public pools rose in popularity. Fairgrounds Park pool in St. Louis offered a sandy bottom and drew thousands of bathers every season. These pools gradually became co-ed, and as men and women bathed together a new wave of racism arose, white men prohibiting other races to mingle with white women. Fairgrounds Park pool erupted in a race riot when the first black swimmers were admitted.

But the Polio scare of the '30's and '40's would soon empty the pools and beaches. When FDR came down with the crippling disease after a weekend away at a lake house in New Brunswick, the public drew an instant association with swimming and the summer scourge.  Since Polio is resistant to soaps and chemicals of low pH, its spread became epidemic. But it was soon discovered that chlorine rendered the disease inactive. Old methods of pool sanitation involved frequently changing out the water and filters. Chlorine had been heavily produced during WWI, and its use in pools began in the 40's and became standard by the 1960's. Jonas Salk's vaccine brought swimmers back within a season or two as the beach beckoned and confidence rose again over fear.


Beach going is big business today. According to a study done in 2008 by James R. Houston, Ph.D., director of Research and Development, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "It's estimated that U.S. beaches contribute more than $320 billion annually to the national economy -- more than 25 times what national parks bring in." The movie Jaws in the 1970's played on two big fears associated with swimming: the financial implications of closing a beach during a popular holiday season, and the primal fear of what may lurk in the deep.

As summer sings it siren song and beckons you to the waters, think about how this simple pleasure has been both enjoyed and forbidden in the past, and thank the Lord for the freedom and safety to take the plunge.

For discussion: Tell us about your favorite swimming hole. Does your family go to the beach every summer, or do you own a lake cottage? Do you pack up the kids and head to the public pool? Do you have a favorite memory involving swimming? Share with us!