If all went well, there would
be time between morning and evening milkings to get away, relax and enjoy a break. Away from the farm and the hay, the cows, the orchard.
They worked hard. It was summer and time to play.
The River
There was an easy camaraderie
among Julia, her brothers Joe and John (standing on the pier), and Lew (possibly the photographer). They were the middle siblings of
nine and very close. Julia’s husband Ben (front left) fit right in with her
brothers. Their close family friend Eunice and her beau Stanley rounded out the
group, as they often did.
Carefree for a while, they enjoyed
the water, the sunshine, and the companionship at the river. The brothers were
all home from the war. Julia and Eunice probably brought a picnic lunch. The
Russian River in Sonoma County, California, drew locals as well as tourists
from San Francisco. Here at Mirabel Park Julia, who never learned to swim,
would feel safe in the shallow water. Maybe the others didn’t know how to swim
either.
Their swimsuits mirrored their
freedom from the usual daily chores. The ladies didn’t wear their constricting
corsets, baring their arms and legs! The stretchy wool knit suits clung to
bodies, revealing shapes and curves, a huge departure from modest swim garments
of earlier eras.
Ben and Julia’s ranch lay about two miles west of Boyes Hot Springs, a resort built around natural
thermal springs. Like the Russian River, it drew Julia’s family and friends as
well as San Francisco vacationers, who ferried across the Golden Gate and then rode
a train right to the springs. The pool encouraged relaxing and socializing, not
swimming, really. Its shallow mineral waters allowed everyone to stand in it
comfortably.
The ladies in the foreground,
careful about their hair, wore swimming hats that resembled the cloche hats then
in style.
Julia snapped a photo of one
extreme diver, probably her brother Lew, in mid swan dive. He worked hard, and
he played hard. How did he get up so high? How did he enter the water?
The siblings and friends
celebrated their youth in summer weather. Milk the cows, feed the stock, jump
in the Model T, and head for a picnic. If there were no flat tires on the way,
they should arrive home in time for the evening milking.
The Photographs
Bathers at Mirabel Park:
Collection of Joanne Kellar ([address withheld for privacy]), a gift from her
grandmother Julia. The Mirabel Park website shows an old postcard taken from the
same vantage point.[1]
Overviews of Boyes Hot
Springs resort pool: Collection of the author, from Julia’s photo albums.
The diver: Collection of the
author, from K.R. “Lew” Lewis photo collection.
The People in 1920
Ben and Julia (Lewis)
Streeter, the author’s grandparents, resided in El Verano, Sonoma County,
California, two miles from Boyes’ Springs.[2]
Julia’s brothers, Joe, John,
and Kandido “Lew” Lewis were all living on Sonoma County farms, where they
worked as hired hands.[3]
Friend Eunice Silva lived in Santa Rosa, where she worked as a nurse.[4]
Her husband-to-be Stanley Walkerdine, the only non-farmer among the men, worked
in the steel industry in San Francisco.[5]
The Diver
This photograph is in the
loose photo collection of K.R. “Lew” Lewis. It appears to have been taken at
the same time as the two other photos of Boyes Springs, which were glued into
Julia’s photo album. Possibly Julia took the photos and shared one with her
brother.
The Swimwear
Comparison with photos from a
few online sources suggests the early 1920s for these swimsuits and, by
extension, these photos.[6]
[1] “Historical Links,” Mirabel RV Park & Campground (http://mirabelpark.com/).
The link to the historical photos is currently broken.
[2] 1920 U.S. Census, Sonoma County, California,
population schedule, Sonoma, ED 153, sheet 4A, dwelling/family 105, Benjamin E.
Streeter household; NARA microfilm T625, roll 150.
[3] [Joe] 1920 U.S. Census, Sonoma County, California,
population schedule, Sonoma, ED 154, sheet 7B, dwelling 165, family 177, Roy
McReynolds household; NARA microfilm T625, roll 151; [John] 1920 U.S. Census,
Sonoma County, California, population schedule, Petaluma, ED 141, sheet 13B,
dwelling [blank], family 32, George Hammerman household; NARA microfilm T625,
roll 151; [Lew] 1920 U.S. Census, Sonoma County, California, population
schedule, Sonoma, ED 162, sheet 2A, dwelling 29, family 3 [number of persons in
family], Frederick A. Lowell household; NARA microfilm T625, roll 150.
[4] 1920 U.S. Census, Sonoma County, California,
population schedule, Santa Rosa, ED 153, sheet 8B, dwelling/family 205, J. P.
Silva household; NARA microfilm T625, roll 151.
[5] 1920 U.S. Census, San Francisco County, California,
population schedule, San Francisco, ED 96, sheet 6A, dwelling 61, family 178,
Sidney A. Boden household; NARA microfilm T625, roll 134.
[6] Dolores Monet, “Women and Fashions of the Early 20th
Century—World War I Era—Clothing of 1914-1920,” HubPages (http://hubpages.com/hub/Women-and-Fashions-of-the-World-War-I-Era-Clothing-of-1914-1920
: accessed 23 May 2015). Also, Sophia Ellis, “Have Times Changed for the
Better? A Look Back at Women’s Swimwear,” Hello
Giggles (http://hellogiggles.com/have-times-changed-for-the-better-a-look-back-at-womens-swimwear/
: accessed 23 May 2015). Also, “Swimsuit,” Encyclopedia
Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/577087/swimsuit
: accessed 23 May 2015). Finally, Pauline Weston Thomas, “Women’s Swimwear:
Swimsuit Fashion History 1920-2000,” Fashion-Era
(http://www.fashion-era.com/swimwear.htm
: accessed 23 May 2015.
© 2015 Judy Kellar Fox, CG, foxkellarj@comcast.net
