A Bathing Cart  was a wooden locker room on two or four wheels that was pulled into the water. In the 18th and 19th centuries it offered women an opportunity to swim in the ocean unseen, in a morally proper manner. At that time it was considered indecent and offensive for a woman to bathe within sight of men, even though the then-common swimwear covered a lot more than it does today.

I have to admit I rarely go swimming any more.

Women bathing in burqas in Aqaba, Jordan.

While the modesty of centuries past seems rather more in line with what is common in parts of the Middle East today, I have searched the thesaurus in vain for words to charitably describe what passes for bathing attire nowadays; expensive dental floss is what comes to mind.

Somewhere there has to be a happy medium between extremist prudishness and a beach party sponsored by Cosmo. Sadly, my opinion will have scant effect on the trends of the world, and I’m almost glad I won’t be around to see what fashions look like (or don’t) in 50 years.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

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