A Coppertone Life

We didn't spend every summer at Lake Tahoe, living the life of the rich and famous...sometimes we stayed home all summer and went to the beach each day. We certainly weren't rich, but the beach was free and Manhattan Beach was very much a middle class suburb at that time.

We walked to the beach of course, in fact we walked everywhere! Mom didn't drive and so we really didn't think it "abnormal" to be on foot.

And at the beach we began to make certain class distinctions. There were "us" and there were were "tourists" or "Turistas". And those we made fun of. Certain beaches, such as Marine Avenue, attracted certain types and Marine Ave. attracted tourists. I was a member of the group that went to 15th Street, a premier location! From 15th Street you could barely see the tourists congregating beneath their beach umbrellas, sitting on their beach chairs and walking across the sand in SHOES! (shoes were for sissies!)

I could also mention that the Marine Ave. beachgoers were universally pale and white. No hint of a tan. We, being superior beings, were bronzed to perfection!

Life at the beach in the 1950's was perfect...just like our tans.