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The only thing that I can tell you about there is the fact that I was one of the best off in terms of swiming trunks. Like all boys I'd always worn the same pull up elasticated swimming trunks for school swimming lessons that we'd worn on seaside holidays. These were of all sorts – plain colours, striped or whatever. Sometimes when we went on
holiday with my mum we would have forgotten to pack them (the most important item for a seaside holiday!) - but that could happen in the rush to get away and my mum would always buy us a new pair from Woolworths in the resort that we were staying in. They weren't that dear [expensive].
I do rememeber having woolen trunks too when we were very little. My memmories are rather limited as I was still quite young. The one very destincr memory I have is that they were useless and got sand all over them when we were at the seaside.
The only thing that I can tell you about there is the fact that I was one of the best off in terms of swiming trunks. We always had lots of truks around the house. On several holidays mum had forgot to pack them and had to buy extras. Themn when I joined the swim club, I always wore the red Speedo trunks from my swiming club. I was really proud of them.
The primasry type of swimwear worn by boys in Britain when I was growing up were the briefs-style trunks. The briefs style
were the only ones that were commonly worn, but I do have some additiional memories.
Like all boys I'd always worn the same pull up elasticated swimming trunks for school swimming lessons that we'd worn on seaside holidays. These were of all sorts – plain colours, striped or whatever. I never remember anything other than the brief style trunks. I don't recall the boxer-style trunks I have noted being worn in America. I only recall the briefs-style trunks, both at primary school and secondary school. We had to do cricket in Summer for the first three years there of my grammar school. Then we could choose other games during the Summer if we wanted. Some did tennis (they had courts), some swimming. My secondary school didn't have it's own pool so we used the municipal pool - a different one to the one at primary
school. My little brother's secondary school - a modern comprehensive - did have it's own pool - they used to open it up to adults in
the evenings as well as other facilities - it was trying to be a community school).
I don't really recall the boxer style swimshorts here at all - on the beach either. I have seen them sice of course but I don't know when they became common.
I do recall briefly there was a fashion for some older boys to wear cut down jeans to swim in. The pool where our swimming club met had two pools - we had one
for ourselves to train and the other was open to the public and I noticed some boys wearing these when I looked in on the other
pool on my way out. This was later - about 1972. A notice then went up saying proper swimming costumes had to be worn at the
pool. I did notice cut down jeans being worn also up river - at Teddington where it was less tidal and much cleaner so you could
swim - when I met some boys from my secondary school out there one Sunday. Some also wore football shorts there. Football shorts were cut shorter than regular shorts and then suitable for swiming.
Sometimes when we went on
holiday with my mum we would have forgotten to pack them (the most important item for a seaside holiday!) - but that could happen in the rush to get away and my mum would always buy us a new pair from Woolworths in the resort that we were staying in. They weren't that dear [expensive]. I think I've told you a bit already but there is some more I've remembered while writing this,
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