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W.A. Favors Shorts; Spooner's chest-protector amazes Perth

Date1936

Object numberANMS0446[005]

NameNewspaper clipping

MediumInk on paper

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Dale O'Sullivan

Terms

DescriptionA newspaper article titled 'W.A. Favors Shorts; Spooner's chest-protector amazes Perth. Mystery of Ministers Lost "Poesy". The article is accompanied by a photograph of the tennis player Fred Perry sitting next to actress Marlene Dietrich. The caption below the image reads 'Fred Perry, world tennis champion, found no ban on beach shorts when sunbaking at Palm Springs, Hollywood, with Marlene Dietrich.' The article discusses Eric Spooner's Ordinance 52 which dictated the type of swimwear men were required to wear in public. New South Wales at this stage remained "the only State in the Commonwealth which insists that male bathers should have their chests covered with all-wool matting". HistoryIn January 1935 the Minister for Local Government (Mr. Eric Spooner) announced that the "new regulations controlling surf beach costumes would not come into operation until October 1. He said he had conferred privately with retailers and manufacturers on the subject, and he proposed to table an ordinance in Parliament when it resumed on January 22. This ordinance would provide, he added, that costumes should have legs at least 3 inches long and should cover the body in front up to the armpits and on the back up to the waist. This would apply to all persons above 12 years of age. The costumes must also contain a half-skirt, covering the front ‘of the-costumes from the waist down." These restrictions proposed by Spooner and enforced by beach inspectors, were widely unpopular and as this article illustrates, made Sydney appear antiquated in comparison to growing popularity of beaches across Australia and countries such as the United States. SignificanceThe debate on public modesty was fought on Sydney's beaches, with swimwear being the visual expression of what was considered 'decent'. As the popularity of beach going continued to escalate and become more inclusive, most beach goers found the restrictions of Ordinance 52 more amusing and frustrating but the battle for appropriate swimwear raged into the 1960s.