At the risk of our Friday Flashback becoming all-Compo Beach-all-the-time, I’m posting 4 more postcards from Seth Schachter’s superb Westport-themed collection.
They show clear, wide turn-of-the-century views, of the long stretch of bathhouses that pre-dated the current boardwalk, and the 2-story pavilion nearby.
All that remains today is the roof of the open-air pavilion.
The views below include people enjoying themselves, on the 2nd floor.
A commenter on an earlier Friday Flashback thought that the flag was “photoshopped” in. It’s clear from these postcards that the flag was real.
The early 20th century Compo Beach experience was a bit different from today’s.
In their own way, our great-grandparents had plenty of fun.
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In 1900, there were 45 states. Can you see the flag in detail? The 46th state was added in 1907.
I remember when my parents rented a bathhouse room for the season.
These photos are from different times. The 2nd and 4th are the oldest. In the 3rd view we see that much of the bathhouses have been removed. Brick bathhouses were built to replace those sections. The first picture is later still – it looks like brick on the north end too but I don’t think so. The flag in picture #4 is real but I still think the other flags are dubbed. They would be huge flags. I still wonder how they’ed be raised and lowered.
No problem discussing Compo many times in your column…its is, and always has been the Jewel of The Town. Researching old Westport Heralds from the 20’s it was constantly in the news. Always the way its been. Kudos!