Mixed bathing is now one of the attractions at Mount Buffalo. In the improvements made when the new hospice was being erected was provision for a lake, and in a letter which Mr. Catani has received he is informed that the lake has been greatly appreciated by the Christmas season visitors, both for boating and swimming. The ladies have made use of it for both recreations, and mixed bathing is already an established custom of the mountain holiday resort. The tennis courts, it is mentioned, are also now
in readiness for players. (1)
The Hospice referred to is the Chalet, which opened in 1910. The lake, was a project of Carlo's and was created by the damming of the Eurobin Creek, with the construction of the weir forming a lake of 58 acres (23 hectares). It was established to help make Mount Buffalo a year-round tourist resort - with swimming, fishing and skating, and named Lake Catani, in his honour. (2)
Lake Catani, c. 1910.
Photographer: F. Foxtrot.
Museums Victoria https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/768834
Mixed bathing was a controversial topic at the time but the fact that it was an established custom at Lake Catani seems to have been met with equanimity, unlike the reaction to mixed bathing at the 1912 Methodist Conference where -
At the afternoon sitting of the Methodist Conference yesterday, Rev. T. Adamson moved, in accordance with notice - That in the view of the distinctly immoral conditions at present being created by the practice of mixed bathing, this conference protests against the continuance of the practice as at present prevailing, and urges upon the Government the necessity of using its powers to control municipal action in this matter.
He said he was placed in a position by his circuit duties to understand the set of conditions created by mixed bathing. On the foreshores from Port Melbourne, through Albert Park, to St. Kilda, and beyond, a deplorable condition of things existed. Police officers who were watching the beach very closely were powerless to prevent the evil. Residents of Beaconsfield-parade - a residential area along the foreshore - had told him, and he had seen for himself, that on a summer's evening there was hideous immorality
along the beach. (3)
It wasn't just the Reverend Adamson who thought that mixed bathing in South Melbourne and St Kilda was immoral. Further around the Bay, Mr Lowther of the Chelsea Progress Association discussed the mixed bathing question and he expressed the hope that the beach at Chelsea would not be the scene of such displays as had occurred at South Melbourne and St. Kilda.... and he feared that Chelsea may get a reputation like South Melbourne if the foreshore trust does not exercise due vigilance. (4)
We have no information about whether Carlo was in favour of mixed bathing, but I would have no reason to think that he would be against it, as long as the participants were decently clothed. He was fully aware of the matter as the issue of mixed bathing in the sea (as opposed to enclosed baths such as Kenney's Baths) was debated in February 1911, in Carlo's home town of St Kilda and was also discussed by the St Kilda Foreshore Committee, of which he was a member.
The Prahran Telegraph reported on the debate -
Mixed Bathing - The action of the South Melbourne Council in passing a resolution in favour of open bathing on the foreshore has resulted in thousands of people going down to the seashore for a dip, the practice being to wear a bathing dress under a dressing gown or other garment, the latter being dropped on the beach. There has, so far, been little which is objectionable, and much that is pleasant and healthy in the practice, though, as in other places, the authorities require to be constantly on the alert to prevent rowdies intruding. The influence of South Melbourne has extended to St. Kilda, and on Monday evening Cr. Pittard asked the foreshore committee to erect dressing sheds on the beach. He said it was no use getting away from the fact that they were going to have mixed bathing. He moved accordingly.
The Mayor: One shelter for the two sexes. Cr. Pittard: No. There should be screens put up for the benefit of each sex. Open sea bathing was going to be the rule, and it should be encour-ged by making it decently possible. Cr. O'Donnell : We have no resolution on mixed bathing. Cr. Gibbs, as a member of the Foreshore Trust, said he was sure that body would consider any request from the Council as favourably as possible.
The Mayor: What about shark-proof fencing? Cr. O'Donnell remarked that the resolution would be a very dangerous one to carry. He had heard several complaints about mixed bathing that was carried on. Cr. Gibbs: It is perfectly legal so long as the bathers are decently clothed. Cr. O'Donnell asked whether Cr. Gibbs would go regularly to see if people were properly clothed. He would like the Council, before carrying the motion, to give serious consideration to the whole question of mixed bathing and adopt rules for its conduct.
The Mayor: If you object to it the motion cannot be put to-night. Cr. O'Donnell: Well, I do strongly object to its coming on without notice. Cr. Pittard then gave notice of motion for next meeting. (5)
In a follow-up report, two weeks later -
Mixed Bathing at St. Kilda - At the St. Kilda Council meeting on Monday evening last Cr. Pittard moved: "That the St. Kilda shore committee be asked to consider the advisableness of providing dressing screens or shelters on the foreshore, to permit of bathing in the open." Cr. Stedeford seconded the motion. There was no doubt that mixed open sea bathing would at length come into general vogue. The Mayor : We have it now.
Cr. Hewison said he did not know whether councillors had all come to the conclusion that mixed bathing at St. Kilda was desirable. He had indulged in it, and he was convinced of its advantages under proper conditions. The sending of a letter conveying the proposed resolution would suggest to the Foreshore Trust that the Council approved of providing for mixed bathing. The beach immediately in front of the Esplanade did not lend itself to open sea bathing. People came to St. Kilda to promenade and enjoy the sea air, and to have mixed bathing in front of the Esplanade was not desirable. There should be limitation, and the principal objection he saw was that people did not immediately dress when they came out of the water, but lay about on the sand. He did not know how far propriety would be ensured by erecting dressing screens.
Cr. O'Donnell said he had tried to keep an open mind on the matter, but what he had seen on the beach on the way to Port Melbourne on the preceding morning had not impressed him favourably. Mixed bathers stayed tumbling and cossing about the sand for an hour at a time. Cr. Billson : They are proud of their figures. Cr. Gibbs said the Foreshore Trust was about to give consideration to the subject, and would inform the Council subsequently of what it had in its mind to do. The motion was withdrawn by consent for four weeks, pending receipt of information from the trust. (6)
St Kilda Council were still debating this issue in March 1912 when they passed a motion controlling open-sea mixed bathing which included the clause - No person shall bathe in the open sea at any such part as aforesaid of the seashore unless effectively and decently clothed from neck to knee in a bathing costume, kilted, or similar to that known as the Canadian costume. (7). This motion was put, in spite of the fact that at that same Council meeting - Councillor Gibbs said that the Foreshore Trust had been informed by the Crown solicitor that it had no power at present to make by-laws to control the open the open sea bathing. (8)
The Canadian costume, compulsory attire for mixed bathing.
Perth Sunday Times, February 17, 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58070817
More regulations were introduced in January 1915 with both time and age restrictions and restrictions with the objective to control open sea bathing. (9) The issue was still not settled in 1918 and the following report shows some of the issues that policing mixed bathing produced -
Bathers - mixed and otherwise - will be interested in the recent decision of the South Melbourne Council to amend the bathing regulations so us to bring them more into line with those at St Kilda. This decision which will allow of mixed bathing between 5 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. on week days, and from 5 a.m. till 11 a.m. on Sundays, will make the regulations more liberal than those that obtain at St Kilda, where mixed bathing is only permitted in parts between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Last season the South Melbourne Council permitted mixed bathing only between 5 a.m. and sundown, whereas at St. Kilda the sexes could bathe together until much later in the evening. The result was that in the hot weather there would be a secession of Albert Park residents, men, women and children, over the border of the two municipalities, to enjoy a dip together in the free atmosphere of the St. Kilda foreshore. The border line was represented by an imaginary line running out to sea from Fraser street, which was the southern boundary of South Melbourne. In the circumstances, when once the water was entered, it was very much a matter of opinion as to whether a bather was within or outside the restricted area, and the confusion that resulted gave rise to many amusing situations and incidents.
The report ends with -
At Port Melbourne the hours of bathing are not restricted, but bathers, as elsewhere, must wear the neck to knee Canadian costume, and observe the laws of propriety. Neither are there any restrictions as to hours of bathing at Brighton or the new municipality of Sandringham. A strict watch is kept by the police to prevent anything in the nature of disorderly conduct, but there is seldom cause for complaint. (10).
The Truth newspaper headline
Truth, November 16, 1918 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130174264
Truth newspaper also reported on these absurd rules where mixed bathing was allowed in Port Melbourne at all hours, but once over the border at Pickles Street and into the City of South Melbourne, restrictions applied. (11) This, above, was the amusing head-line of the Truth article, which can be read here.
The bathing costume on the right is a two-piece Canadian, made of wool, under a towelling gown.
Graphic of Australia, December 28, 1917 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153080029
Carlo's Lake Catani, at which mixed bathing was accepted at a time when it was still the subject of much debate and restriction even in St Kilda and other the pleasure spots of Melbourne, makes it a trail blazer in Victoria. I will go so far to say that Carlo, through his construction of Lake Catani, led the way in Victoria in regards to mixed bathing.
Footnotes
(1) The Argus, January 7, 1911, see here.
(3) The Age, March 6, 1912, see here.
(5) Prahran Telegraph, February 11, 1911, see here.
(6) Prahran Telegraph, February 25, 1911, see here.
(7) The Argus, March 5, 1912, see here.
(8) Ibid.
(9) The Argus, January 19, 1915, see here.
(10) The Herald, October 29, 1918, see here.
(11) Truth, November 16, 1918, see here.
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