Unlike the rivers around Manhattan this weekend, Coney Island ocean waters are still open for public use.  Here’s what that looked like back in Rose’s time:

Bathing and Wading at Coney Island 1910

Bathing at Coney Island 1908

1911 Bathing Suit Magazine Ad

For more pictures and info about women’s bathing suits in the 1900’s, take a look at this piece from Victoriana Magazine.

Here is a quote from the above mentioned article: “During the early 1900s, people flocked to oceanside beaches for popular seaside activities as swimming, surf bathing, and diving.  The only activity for women in the ocean involved jumping through the waves while holding onto a rope attached to an off-shore buoy. Their clumsy Victorian and Edwardian style bathing costumes were often quite burdensome.

Women typically dressed in black, knee-length, puffed-sleeve wool dresses, often featuring a sailor collar, and worn over bloomers or drawers trimmed with ribbons and bows. The bathing costume was typically accessorized with long black stockings, lace-up bathing slippers, and fancy caps. ”

But saltwater bathing and wading weren’t the only Coney Island water fun activities available back then…

There was the Steeplechase Swimming Pool:

Steeplechase Pool 1912

Shooting the Chutes:

Shooting the Chutes, Luna Park, Coney Island 1912

Shooting the Chutes, Coney Island NY

Top of the Dreamland Chutes, Coney Island 1910

Steamboat Rides:

Coney Island Waterfront Steamboat 1919

(There must have been much more than this going on out there at the time…bath houses, other swimming pools, vaudeville water performance venues?  If anyone has more pictures/info to add, please let me know!)