Sunny Beach holiday in Broadstairs 1955

A standard 8 vintage home movie of a family on a day trip or holiday to the beach in 1955.

I posted this film because it covers one of the underlying aims of the site which I’ve outlined in the ‘Welcome to Vintage Home Movies’ post, namely the Social History aspect of old home movies. I find this sort of movie interesting because of the contrast it paints with modern life, and the similarities.

Although I can’t be certain of the location, there is a very faint note written on the box which I think says, ‘Broadstairs‘ and since there is a coastal town in Kent called that, and the photographer lived in Blackheath in London this is likely to be the place the film was shot.

The Beach Holiday Film

So, back the the beach holiday film.

I mentioned above the differences this scene paints compared to a modern video shot on a beach, but in many ways when you look at this film I think the thing that strikes me are the similarities. People still go to the beach during the summer months, they still paddle in the sea and play on the beach.

There seem to be fewer people on the beach than there would be during the summer months in the 2020’s, but I don’t know if the day this film was taken was a typical day or not.

These days, everyone would be covered in high factor sun cream and I suspect there was none used that day in 1958, but some of that is due to the changes brought about by climate change.

What do you think – what parts of the film strike you as similar to a modern scene and what differences can you spot. Please let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear your thoughts.