Glamour from 1938 surfing competition in Long Beach, California

I keep turning up additional bits and pieces from the First National Surfing Championship held in Long Beach, California, in November and December, 1938.

This week I found this wonderful glamour photo, apparently part of the publicity barrage for the event, along with a clip from the Los Angeles Times (unfortunately, no date recorded).

The event was sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Long Beach Surf Club.

Long Beach Women

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At some point I’ll have to go back and fit the pieces together. Right now, I’ve scanned and posted them as they’ve turned up, and so they are scattered in several places. Another job for a rainy day.


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6 thoughts on “Glamour from 1938 surfing competition in Long Beach, California

  1. Pono

    Upon a recent visit to Long Beach, I was disappointed to learn that the city’s lovely ladies no longer wear such modest bathing suits 🙂

    Reply
  2. Don Wallace

    Wonderful pix. As a native Long Beacher, I am proud of my noir-ish little burgh, also home of Raymond Chandler and John Wayne and Snoop Dogg.

    The photo of the girl, Jean Olson, with the rocks in the background is not Long Beach, I’m pretty sure. It looks like Portuguese Bend about 10 miles north of LB, which was and still is a surf spot of some renown. Back then it was home of the other big surf club of the 30s, with Doc Ball and others.

    Thank, Ian!

    Reply

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