The joke of a man mistakenly entering a ladies bathing machine seems to have be widely shared. Below is an 1870 cartoon by George Du Maurier showing an elderly gentleman, clad only in striped bathing drawers, coming face to face with a young female swimmer when he mistakenly returns to the wrong bathing machine.
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In the caption to the cartoon, the "Modest Old Gentleman" is saying "Ahem! Pray excuse me, Madam, my bathing machine, I think?". Some seaside resorts kept the designated bathing machines well apart so that embarrassing encounters between the sexes could be avoided. Reference: |
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