The Observer magazine’s cover story for 3 August 1969, ‘The Art of Enjoying Summer’, offers a unique snapshot of what we desired most when temperatures soared. We know we’re at the tail end of the 1960s with a spread entitled, ‘Keeping cool in sticky situations’ featuring a languid Mick Jagger-ish model, a white electric guitar and the cover of a Jefferson Airplane LP.
Along with the heady nostalgia of what to listen to in the sun (a Philips am/fm radio and cassette recorder, ideally, under ‘wisps of cloud in an azure sky’), there are some clues as to what has endured and what has changed compared to our seaside special today.
Back then, surfing was still in its infancy on British shores, and we discover in a report, ‘It’s not Malibu but…’ Instead, it was a slightly eccentric pursuit that, ‘until 1960 had been done lying down on short plywood boards’. A small band of Australians arriving to work as lifeguards on the Cornish coast changed all that, introducing something entirely new – fibreglass Malibu boards. We meet the Newlings, a family of seven expert surfers, including the five kids ranging from 8-18. Between them they helped to kickstart the Cornish surfing industry. Half a century later you’re spoilt for surf schools there.
The guide to summer accessories is as groovy as you’d expect for the 1960s. There’s an Aeolian harp, Chinese wind chimes to hang in a tree or a Japanese beaded curtain to rustle gently in the breeze… just add patchouli oil. Elsewhere, an astute observation of seaside sun worshippers hints at an obsession with body image that was only just revving up for the rest of the century and beyond. ‘When we strip to take the sun… the male peacock and vain female concentrate on the body itself, and as much energy goes into presenting a tanned and satiny torso as ever went into the ruffles and frills of winter.’
