Vintage Postcards Show Swimming Pools in the U.S. in the 1950s and ’60s

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The United States saw its first swimming pool is 1868 at the Cabot Street Bath in Boston. Though not a “pool” in today’s sense of the word, it was built to serve a neighborhood where most could not afford homes with baths.

In 1907, Philadelphia saw the U.S.’s first above ground swimming pool. This pool was built at a club known as the Philadelphia Racket. Soon after, in 1910, the first major technological advancement in modern swimming pools came about. The use of sanitation and filtration methods in swimming pools was a modern marvel. Prior to these advancements, pool water could only be cleaned by replacing the dirty water with fresh water.

Home swimming pools became popular in the United States after World War II and the publicity given to swimming sports by Hollywood films such as Esther Williams’ Million Dollar Mermaid made a home pool a desirable status symbol. More than 50 years later, the home or residential swimming pool is a common sight.

Here below is a set of vintage postcards that shows what swimming pools looked like in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.