Bathers, Steel Pier, Coney Island
Photography
The couple at the center of this photograph has donned swimming costumes appropriate for a day on the beach. Until the early twentieth century, women wore bathing dresses or long tunics over bloomers, all of which were made from heavy, often wool, fabric to prevent the clothing from rising up in the water. Men also had to observe the rules of propriety—they were not allowed to bare their chests on Coney Island beaches until the late 1930s.
MEDIUM
Gelatin silver print
DATES
ca. 1880–1885; printed 1940s
DIMENSIONS
image: 7 5/8 x 12 in. (19.4 x 30.5 cm)
sheet: 10 7/8 x 13 15/16 in. (27.6 x 35.4 cm) (show scale)
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed on center verso in ink: "BR 2106"; in lower right corner in pencil: accession number; on lower right corner of recto in pencil: "35"
COLLECTIONS
Photography
ACCESSION NUMBER
X894.149
CREDIT LINE
Brooklyn Museum Collection
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Coney Island pier
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
George Bradford Brainerd (American, 1845–1887). Bathers, Steel Pier, Coney Island, ca. 1880–1885; printed 1940s. Gelatin silver print, image: 7 5/8 x 12 in. (19.4 x 30.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X894.149 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, X894.149_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, X894.149_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
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