I never understood the lyric "Which is something between a large bathing machine and a very small second-class carriage” in “The Nightmare Song” from Iolanthe.
But, now I know:
That headline is ridiculous. They didn’t swim inside the wagons. They dressed inside them, and climbed down from them to the water. As someone who hates getting sand everywhere, I wouldn’t half mind one of those picking me up on the street and dropping me off in the water while I changed.
They dressed inside them, the wagon was rolled into the surf, and the ladies could step out directly into the water without having to parade themselves on the sand in their shockingly (not) revealing bathing costumes. Even more important, once wet and with bathing costumes clinging to their skin, the ladies could get back to where their clothes were without a lot of onlookers ogling them.
According to Wikipedia, these devices might also be used by gentlemen “who wished to behave respectably.” The cite for this information in Wikipedia is apparently a magazine article from 2013 by one Penelope Byrde.
Actually an article from 1987. The first page (only) is viewable online.
The market for bathing machines died out after the last of the snarks was hunted down in the late nineteenth century.
Didn’t they turn a bunch of these bathing machines into tiny hide-away cottages on beach coast lines? For ..whatever’s?
Seems like it …
History of beach huts
Those beach huts sell for stupid money these days.
Beach huts for sale.
I can’t imagine these things can last long. One powerful storm every ten years or so seems likely to wash them away. Maybe they are just easy to re-build.
I don’t really know but it seems dodgy buying a place like that for whatever reason. They seem…impermanent.
As with all things beach, it’s not the hut, it’s the spot underneath it you’re paying for. You’d be a fool to spend the money building something substantial.