A day at the beach was a whole production
Especially if you were a British woman in Victorian times. As a lady, you couldn't just stroll into the waves wearing your bathing suit. Heaven forbid someone might see a square inch of your skin. Instead, women kept their reputation pure
by using an elaborate contraption called a "bathing machine". The bathing machine was a large wooden box with wheels and curtained doors in the front and back. When the bathing machine was parked on the sand, the woman would enter, fully clothed. Then, inside, she would change into her swimwear (which was no bikini). Following that, a pair of horses would pull the whole portable closet out into the surf, at which point the lady would descend some steps into the ocean. She was even more shielded from prying eyes if the machine had a canvas canopy.
Dad joke
When pigs fly alternatives
