In the summer of 1959, Gidget arrived in theaters and America fell head-over-heels in love with beach culture. In the film, Gidget and her budding beau, Moondoggie, find romance during an especially dreamy summer and effectively kicked off the craze for summer fairytale adventures amidst the surf. In this photo taken in 1961, Seaside’s beach is stretched out in the lazy summertime heat with crowds of merrymakers relaxing in the sand. It’s a scene taken directly from a classic Beach Party genre film, where the sizzling sands and the lapping blue waves seem like the utopia everybody has been dreaming about for nine months.
It’s striking that even though Seaside’s beach is long and incredibly spacious (over 2 miles in length!) the folks pictured here are firmly settled and in the same vicinity. It’s obvious that they’re poised for an afternoon of socializing and people-watching: the two dynamic ingredients to make for a perfect summer day. Mingling with new people amidst the multi-colored beach blankets, coconut oil, and surfboards stuck upright in the sand, Seaside’s beach in 1961 had all of the classic components. Folks probably weren’t breaking out into song, but this was as close as history got to emulating a Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello movie.
