The Town Beach at Silver Lake will open for the 2022 season on June 11th and will probably do so without much fanfare. Although, one hundred or so years ago, the Board of Selectmen gave notice to the Chief of Police that vulgar behavior and dress would not be tolerated. As spring turned to summer and the city folk arrived at their camps, the Selectmen sent out an edict aimed the raciness that they thought would soon arrive.
In the 1910s Silver Lake was coming into its own as a summer destination for the folks of Charlestown and Somerville and Malden and Medford. Trains and trolleys deposited families into the cool, shady pine groves that surrounded the lake and the town’s population swelled. Each day bathers dipped into the water and splashed about from the sunrise until the moon was the only light in the sky.
What today is considered “much ado about nothing” was, in the post-Victorian era, a big deal. The biggest of which in Wilmington was to be the modesty of the women partaking in the refreshing waters of Silver Lake. Frolics that often began in the early morning hours and continued through to daylight forced the Selectmen to take notice of the naughtiness. Thus, they soon promulgated rules for the “bare” minimum for bathing attire. Men where to have a two-piece tank style top over bathing trousers. Women, however, were to be banned from any sort of salacious attire whatsoever. The mere thought of unclothed arms and legs was an anathema to the prudish town fathers. As a 1913 newspaper account put it… “Girls will not be allowed to loll on the beaches of Silver Lake this summer according to the dictum of fathers who object to the maids collecting a tan while wearing only an apology for a bathing suit”.
To ensure obedience, the Selectmen ordered Chief Walter Hill to pass along their decree to his officers. Chief Hill in turn, detailed Officers Albert Butters and William Baxter to the task. A photograph of a woman in proper attire was provided for reference. Clad head to toe, the outfit featured a bonnet, a pinstriped, sailor style bathing dress and full-length stockings. Decorative bows festooned the aforementioned ensemble. Photograph in pocket, officers were then sent forth to patrol the beaches for violations. The underdressed, unlucky enough to be caught in scanty outfits by Butters and Baxter were quickly given something else to wear, handcuffs. If things got too hot to handle, Butters who was also the Fire Chief could send for an engine to cool things down.
There is not a record of Chief Hill’s efforts to reign in the scandalous bathers that romped in the waters of Silver Lake. A popular postcard image from the era seems to suggest that at least the daytime bathers complied. After dark however, no one knows.