35 Amazing Postcards Capture Swimming Pools of New York in the 1950s and ’60s

The Amateur Swimming Association was founded in 1869 in England and the Oxford Swimming Club in 1909. The presence of indoor baths in the cobbled area of Merton Street might have persuaded the less hardy of the aquatic brigade to join. So, bathers gradually became swimmers, and bathing pools became swimming pools.

In the U.S., the Racquet Club of Philadelphia clubhouse (1907) boasts one of the world's first modern above-ground swimming pools. The first swimming pool to go to sea on an ocean liner was installed on the White Star Line’s Adriatic in 1906. The oldest known public swimming pool in America, Underwood Pool, is located in Belmont, Massachusetts.

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.

A set of amazing vintage postcards from William Bird shows what swimming pools looked like in New York in the 1950s and 1960s.

Alexandria Motel, Alexandria Bay, New York

Bel-air pool, Glen Spray, New York

Bird's Nest Motel, Skaneateles, New York

Broadlea Pool at Academy of Our Lady, Goshen, New York

Captain Thomson's Motor Lodge, Alexandria Bay, New York

Charles and Lillian Brown's Hotel, Loch Sheldrake, New York

Children's wading pool and main swimming pool at John Boyd Thacher State Park in the Helderberg Mountains, 15 miles southwest of Albany, New York

Columbia Resort Hotel, Hurleyville, New York

Concord Hotel indoor pool, Kiamesha Lake, New York

Downtowner Motor Inn swimming pool, Rochester, New York

Fun in the sun at the beautiful new pool at John Boyd Thatcher State Park, Altamont, New York

Grossinger's Olympic Pool, New York

Hill's Resort, Callicoon Center, New York

Hotel Brickman pool, South Fallsburg, New York

Hotel Marcy, Lake Placid, New York

Hotel Nemerson, South Fallsburg, New York

Huck Finn Motel, Horseheads, New York

John T Buckley swimming pool, Utica, New York

Kutsher's Country Club, Monticello, New York

L & M Motel, Schenectady, New York

Laurels Hotel and Country Club pool, Monticello, New York

Laurels Hotel and Country Club, Monticello, New York

Lido Motel, Monticello, New York

Man-Del-A Motel, Lake George, New York

Morley's Motel, Ogdensburg, New York

O'Connell's Fern Cliff House, East Durham, New York

Oehler's Mountain Lodge, Kingston, New York

Pines Hotel, South Fallsburg, New York

Pines Resort Hotel, South Fallsburg, New York

Po'Keepsie Motor Hotel, Poughkeepsie, New York

Raleigh pool, So Fallsburg, New York

Swimming in the municipal pool, Prospect Park, Troy, New York

Tamarack Lodge, Greenfield Park, New York

Waikiki Indoor Pool, Nevele Country Club, Ellenville, New York

Windsor Hotel indoor pool, So Fallsburg, New York