The Original Swimsuit Issue
Welcome to the annual Only in L.A. Swimsuit Issue!
Hey, quit looking at those alluring photos for a moment and read the text here, will you?
Anyway, you may have noticed that an obviously worried Sports Illustrated tried to undercut us by bringing out its swimsuit issue a couple of weeks ago. But S.I.’s will only suffer by comparison. For one thing, our collection is in stunning black and white! And we have models dating back to the 1930s. OK, let’s get started.
THAT SPECKLED LOOK: In 1966, designer Rudi Gernreich unveiled his masterpiece--a bathing suit that came with loose plastic triangles that were supposed to be pasted on bare skin (see photo). It was a flop despite the fact that it would have made for interesting tan lines.
EARLY VALLEY SECESSION ATTEMPT? One of the scandals that hit Long Beach’s Miss Universe competition in the 1950s involved “a Miss Chile [who] turned out to be a native of Van Nuys and the ‘personal assistant’ of a contest judge,” according to the new book, “Long Beach: The City and Its People.”
WASN’T SANTA SURPRISED? To pump up tourism early in the 1930s, the L.A Chamber of Commerce snapped shots of models in offbeat poses and mailed them out to Eastern newspapers in the winter.
Hence, the human Christmas tree as well as the floating cocktail bar (see photos).
FASHION STATEMENT: Surfer Miki Dora expressed his contempt for organized surf contests, if not swimsuits, during a 1967 Malibu event by pulling down his trunks and “mooning” 4,000.
JUST WEAR SOMETHING! One of the questions asked the Catalina Chamber of Commerce by clueless mainlanders was: “Do you think we’ll need a bathing suit for scuba diving?”
TALK ABOUT A WET ROAD: Incidentally, I tried to drive over to Catalina to personally interview the folks there. But when I took the offramp of the Long Beach Freeway I couldn’t find the bridge to the island (see photo).
CHOW TIME! The wetsuit began to appear in surf shops in the 1960s. The wave-riders love them. So do some sharks. Scientists speculate that some shark attacks may have occurred because swimmers’ wetsuits were mistaken for sealskin.
NO WONDER SHE VANTED TO BE ALONE: Actress Greta Garbo once entered Bullocks Wilshire and asked a clerk to help her pick out a swimsuit. When they went into the fitting room, the actress removed her coat, which was all she was wearing, according to Margaret Leslie Davis’ history of the department store.
MORE DRESSING ROOM GOSSIP: One local survey in the 1990s found that only about 10% of the male population bought new bathing trunks each year.
miscelLAny:
In a 1997 marketing campaign titled, “It’s Amazing What Grows in Los Angeles,” L.A. was called the birthplace of the modern swimsuit. When it was pointed out that the ads showed a bikini, created by a French designer in the mid-1940s, L.A.’s marketing rep responded: “Does it have to be literal?”
I hate it when L.A. gets caught with its pants down.
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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.
