Arto's Batman Swim Ring

Here we have Arto's fabulous new 1967 Batman Swimming Ring by Ideal Toy Corp. Japan.

Have you any TV related swimming merchandise? 

No Heavy Petting!

As a kid I disliked the public swimming baths in my home town of Preston, especially when pressed to go with school. It was a huge smelly, echoey brick box filled with chemically dead water, the chlorine gas rising from the pool like fog, through which screaming grubby boys somersaulted into the deep end like depth charges as we gawped at a sign that said No Heavy Petting, wondering on the school bus back what on earth it could be!

Even worse were the changing rooms. Stinking steaming cubicles with clothes baskets and a tiny bench. The very worst thing was the sodden floor, awash with chlorinated trunks bilge, snot, piss and Christ knows what!

The only good features of those God-forsaken baths were the medallions you got for surviving the ordeal - I got to Intermediate - and the mug of hot sweet tea in the cafe afterwards, slowly dissolving an everlasting chew strip in your mouth whilst drinking cha. 

All in all it put me off public baths for life.

Well this week in Germany we took the Grandkids to the very opposite of those rank depths, the very mirror of their crud. A modern multi-bath emporium of liquid fun: clean, family friendly, quiet, calm and simply wunderbar.

Fun pools, baby shallows, salt baths, warm outdoor pools, hot tubs, curving slides, tipping buckets, loungers, cafes, saunas and best if all a circular flume.

Yes, sports swimming pools were there too for keen crawlers but who wants them!

The kids adored the place and we've been twice in three days.

What was and what is your public baths experience readers?

MJ'S BLOW-UP LANDSPEEDER BOAT LOUNGE

Hi Woodsy on the subject of nuclear ferry inflatables I had this very inflatable Landspeeder, I was too large to ride in it so it became a rubber ring if you will, I was in my 30's and it was one very cool long summer...!
MJ
Southcoast Base

WANT A WET ASTRONAUT?

 

I had to chuckle when I saw this paddling pool online.

Fancy sitting in your own wet Nuclear Freighter II?

Splashdown!

Have you seen any other space-related pools?

LEARN TO SWIM YOUNG MAN!

 A flood of memories seeing this! Remember it? 

A QUANTUM OF SNORKEL

 I've noticed now that the sun is out in the UK there are more and more snorkeling sets surfacing at summery car boot sales.

I suppose like Christmas baubles they're a seasonal item so its always fun to see fins, goggles and snorkels laid out on the grass waiting for another chance to swim.

I have happy memories of snorkeling in the cold seas around Abersoch as a small fry and later as an adult tourist in the warm blue deeps of Crete.

Nowadays there's the collector in me looking for car boot pearls and stumbling across the James Bond swimming gear by American outfit Voit would be just amazing. Its never happened I might add but I always turn over a few things to check!

Here's the distinctive highly-spottable blue Voit packaging for the fins, which I assume you could wear back in 1965 when they came out. Its a pic from an online auction.

You can also see the Voit snorkel-blaster on the amazing Toys of Bond site.

http://www.toysofbond.co.uk/Toys_and_Games/james_bond_007_toys.html

Have you any snorkeling gear? Fins, goggles, pipe?