Seawater bathing parks (pools)

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

I'm not sure if this clip from the 1928 film 'The Cameraman' is a seawater public pool, but it possibly is. In the film, the pool was on the ocean. (But you know how far that goes.)

Clip possibly of a seawater public pool from 'The Cameraman' with Buster Keaton 1928 : D.D.Teoli Jr. A.C. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

 

 

DDTJRAC - WW2 Rationing Archive - Sylvia Schneider

 

Bathing parks / public pools were popular back in the day when many people lived in cold water flats with no bathrooms. They had a sink in the room and a communal toilet down the hall. For a good cleanup they would go to the bathing park / pool. It is too bad most of the old-timers are dead from that era. It would be great to get some stories from them on bathing parks.

 

A one room cold water flat.

Captain of Wall Street 90014 - Los Angeles, 1974 

D.D.Teoli Jr.

 

 

On another topic...

'The Camerman' film DVD has a great specials section with a fantastic documentary on hand-cranked cameras of the silent era. A must see if you have an interest in vintage cine' cameras.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/The_cameraman_poster.jpg

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cameraman

Edited February 24, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

I found out this was a saltwater pool in Venice, CA called The Venice Plunge. 

[Raaf Sundquist]

Actually I think the caption on the first photo is correct - that it shows the Redondo Beach Bath House, and not The Venice Plunge. 

The Cameraman was filmed at The Venice Plunge and features a large white fountain as part of the set - I don't think we don't see that here. It plays in a key part where a naked Buster Keaton steals some pants from a larger female swimmer.

I say this not to point out that you're not correct, but only to add some dimension to these very cool photos you've generously shared. Instead, I say it mostly to encourage people to go back and watch the film. Even cooler in motion. Buster's acting, his stunts...and his vision for cinema are so inspiring - and timeless. In so many moments where you see a familiar gag or setup in his films...you have to pause and understand that in many cases, this is the first time it was done on screen.

The whole film is terrific and The Venice Plunge scene is a lot of fun. Early Los Angeles certainly had some interesting sites and Buster made it his cinematic universe.

EDIT: Duh I didn't realize you attached the clip in your first post. I thought you were referring to the photo - so indeed, the Venice Plunge.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Raaf Sundquist

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

That is OK, we don't have time to keep updating posts. I just put the post card in here to give some extra info. I got a huge Archive of photos, ephemera etc. So, I like to put it to use if possible. If no one sees them, the material is not of much use.

The postcard is from eBay. I don't have any of the saltwater pools in the Archive. I've been closing down the Archive as far as new acquisitions. I started last week once it sunk in cine' film is just too hard to deal with for scans. The paper material? I got enough for many lifetimes, so not adding more fuel to the fire. Plus, there is the money and space problems coupled with the recent inflation. 

I found out about the Plunge on the special features on The Camerman. They also had a great special feature on old crank cameras...The Motion Picture Camera.  I was looking for a copy of the film on crank cameras on VHS to break some clips out of. (The Motion picture camera : early cinemachinery from the Malkames Collection.) It was supposedly released on VHS. But it is very, very rare. WorldCat does not even have one copy listed.

The Motion picture camera : early cinemachinery from the Malkames Collection (VHS tape, 1979) [WorldCat.org]

The copy of that film on Criterion DVD had lots of post work. So I didn't want to cut up their stuff. I do try to be a little considerate, but as an archivist, we are always dealing with stuff that was made by someone else and had / has a copyright. Plus, the collection where the film emanated from is still going. So, it is a balancing act. And in this case, that material did not seem to come under my purview of worries about preservation.

The Malkames Collection (malkamescameracollection.com)

You film camera guys / gals would go crazy for The Motion Picture Camera film on the crank cameras. It also goes beyond the crank cams, into the early age of studio cine' cams. Just that one film is worth double of the cost of DVD in my opinion.

• The Motion Picture Camera (1979), a documentary by A.S.C. cinematographer and film preservationist Karl Malkames, in a 4k restoration

The Cameraman (1928) | The Criterion Collection

I had heard you can cut up songs for 30 second fair use samples /discussion if they are copyrighted, but don't know if that is true. And even if true, I don't know if that would extend to 30 second fair use clips for movies. If it is true, then I would not be so considerate and would cut up some clips. I generally stick with what is allowed by law over endless debates on consideration. It is always a battle between the 'greater right or the greater good' being an archivist. 

You lurkers...get The Camerman...great film.

...and watch the specials, many more interesting things on it.

Internet Photo - Buster Keaton - The Camerman 1928

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.