Thank you for a thorough and positively deep analytical article about troubling aspects of naturism today. Kudos to you for the work you put into this. I firmly believe in naturism and the benefits of it, through my participation in it. I have submitted brief articles to The Bulletin (AANR) for publication and have financially contributed to AANR and associated causes. The issue of naturism is too important to us to ignore.
At the risk of sounding like some type of weirdo, there is a trend I have seen, for several years, in men's locker rooms that is not a positive sign for naturism. What I am referring to is that everyone has become super modest and walk back and forth to the showers wrapped in towels or wearing shorts. Initially I thought this was a custom at the specific gym I belonged to. However, I moved to another state and see the same trend in my new gym. It just strikes me as odd that even in a men's locker room people seem to be going to extraordinary measures not to be nude in front of other.
It's certainly a serious problem, but I don't know how recent it is. And it's not just the U.S. Here are a couple 2018 articles on the subject from New Zealand:
I'd call it recent - but then I'm older than dirt and remember nude swims at the Y and mandatory nude showers after PE class. Cell phones and gender integration are what ultimately put an end to that. There was also a notion developed that locker room nudity could be embarassing/triggering so locker rooms got turned into trigger free zones of sorts. Plus a general paranoia about pedophiles everywhere.
I have to admit that over the past few years I had been slowly adopting the new locker room "modesty etiquette." However, after visiting a couple of nudist resorts in Florida I have gone back to the way I was raised. I mean that while I don't see any need to flaunt nudity in the locker room, I don't go to extraordinary measures to hide while showering or changing clothing. But I see that I am in the minority (a very small minority).
Someone told me that fear of homosexuality is the reason for all the modesty. I don't know if there is any truth in that claim. For me personally, I can relate that visiting a nudist resort did not change my sexual orientation (heterosexual). It did however leave me with the feeling that us men are strange looking creatures.
My feeling is that part of the reason for the closure of a dozen camps is partly due to the business model of the camps. Since many of them were started a generation or so ago without any thought to a successor to own or govern them, several closed when the owners passed on without a mechanism for handing them over to a group of investors. One way to ensure the perpetuity of a naturist camp, like any other business, is to establish it in the first place as a corporation, with officers, a succession plan, stock holders, and a larger group of financially responsible caretakers who are willing to be part of a larger entity. This is a tall order but would go a long way to ensure the survival of a naturist camp after a single owner or original group of owners passed on or became unable to continue the management responsibilities. This also raises the issue of a naturist campground organization beginning to train, supervise, and include a new younger generation of stockholders or partners who are prepared to take over. The succession of any business through the "passing the baton" of one generation to the next is always a stressful transition period in any business, but one that would ensure the survival of the business. Therefore I would suggest that the AANR develop a business-training program to assist club owners in preparing for this transition in case they don't already have a plan. Unfortunately, many owner will look at the situation as a time to "cash out" and give the proceeds to their heirs. While this is their right, this situation could have been avoided if a different business model were put in place initially. Many naturists don't concern themselves with these details. However this would help secure the longevity of a naturist corporation. Again, the successors would be groomed well ahead of time and become familiar with the running of the business including taxes, maintenance issues, payroll, expenses, promotion, and state, county, and local governmental relations.
Well, that sounds good on paper. I know a little about two clubs in California that I've visited but which soon folded. Elysium was run by Ed Lange for many years, in spite of opposition from neighbors (in a very expensive neighborhood). When he died, two daughters inherited the property. But they weren't very interested in the business, and probably got plenty of money when the property was sold. Swallows Sun Island was destroyed in a wildfire. Another person bought the property and tried to rebuild, but apparently couldn't afford to finish and eventually sold the property to some sort of church.
Just this year, two small naturist places in Vermont closed - Abbott's Glen and Coventry Club. Both were strictly family-run operations. Coventry had been a naturist camp for 67 years, and Abbott's Glen was an inn with a small camping area. In the Coventry case the elderly owners couldn't find a buyer who would keep it naturist. Vermont, after all, has a rather short naturist season.
Lange probably intended his daughters to benefit from the inheritance. Can't blame him too much for that. In general, I think the owners of small naturist places don't want to incorporate because they don't want anyone else telling them how to run the operation. If a club incorporates, then whoever has a majority of the shares can decide what happens - and they'll probably do whatever makes them the most money.
I doubt that there are many dedicated naturists wealthy enough to purchase a medium-to-large scale naturist place. The main interest of most wealthy people is to get as much more money as they can, no matter what. Another solution is for naturist club members themselves to own the property jointly as a co-operative. When one decides to leave, they just sell their share to another naturist. This used to be common in the early days of naturism - when desirable land was MUCH cheaper. The Sequoians in Northern California is still run that way.
In the long run, the best solution is for naturism to become much more popular, so that any decent naturist property will have plenty of business to continue thriving as a naturist destination no matter what. If ownership changes for whatever reason, there will be plenty of incentive to remain naturist. There's a "law" of economics known as supply and demand. If enough demand is there, the supply will surely follow.
Hi Charles, Shirley Mason (aka, "Mother of Haulover Beach") here. Very good article. It's always good to learn some new information about things you're familiar with. I would like to point out three things that you may want to research and cover in a future article.
1) Florida free beach naturist groups and organizations have taken a different approach to creating safe, well managed clothing-optional beaches and pushing the envelope by successfully challenging anti-nudity rules, local laws and assumptions from government authorities (and the public). It's called the Haulover Model.
2) What has AANR, TNS (since Lee's departure), TNSF, NAC and NEF done proactive to grow nude recreation for either landed clubs and/or c/o beaches?
3) Since our c/o beaches are the natural locations for growing membership in organizations and visitors to privately-owned facilities, what has been done to support these sites and market to skinny-dippers who frequent these locations?
BTW, in my former role as President of South Florida Free Beaches and as executive director of B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation, I have personally tracked the number of visitors to the c/o beach at Haulover and its parking revenue since SFFB established this beach and compared it to the Miami-Dade County's other and much larger textile beach-park. Knowing far too many long-standing historic c/o beaches has been lost and Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook, New Jersey and Little Beach in Hawaii are being poised to go textile post haste.
Hi, Shirley, I don't know whether you recall, but we've communicated before. We spoke briefly at a Western Naturist Gathering, and later had a phone conversation about me possibly participating in NEF.
The nude beach situation certainly is worrying. Obviously, the political climate in Florida is not good for naturism, but I'm surprised that even Gunnison in New Jersey is at risk. There are a couple of aspects to this problem. One is that most clothing-optional beaches still around are on the coasts, so most naturists can't visit them very often, if at all. But more broadly, younger people (Millennials and Gen-Z) just aren't nearly as interested in naturism as our generation. That's a huge problem.
My take on the problem, which I'll be discussing much more in future newsletters, is that current naturists need to make much more effort to talk up naturism to as many of their friends and relatives as possible. I think that should be much more effective than what top-down organizations like TNSF and AANR can do. The reason is that people someone knows personally and is respected by are more likely to be persuaded than they would be by organizations or what they can find online.
So the problem to solve is how to persuade current naturists to become active advocates for naturism. And the main argument for doing so is that they'll have more people to enjoy naturism with together - at home and at established naturist places. It's pleasant to meet amicable strangers at beaches and clubs, but people spend much more time with personal acquaintances.
If you'd be interested in writing a guest article for this newsletter, I'd be delighted to run it. You (and Richard) can say so much about managing a clothing-optional beach, and what might be done to stop losing existing beaches. Or developing new ones - such as Blind Creek - working with local tourist bureaus, etc.
Thank you for a thorough and positively deep analytical article about troubling aspects of naturism today. Kudos to you for the work you put into this. I firmly believe in naturism and the benefits of it, through my participation in it. I have submitted brief articles to The Bulletin (AANR) for publication and have financially contributed to AANR and associated causes. The issue of naturism is too important to us to ignore.
At the risk of sounding like some type of weirdo, there is a trend I have seen, for several years, in men's locker rooms that is not a positive sign for naturism. What I am referring to is that everyone has become super modest and walk back and forth to the showers wrapped in towels or wearing shorts. Initially I thought this was a custom at the specific gym I belonged to. However, I moved to another state and see the same trend in my new gym. It just strikes me as odd that even in a men's locker room people seem to be going to extraordinary measures not to be nude in front of other.
It's certainly a serious problem, but I don't know how recent it is. And it's not just the U.S. Here are a couple 2018 articles on the subject from New Zealand:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/101566379/alternative-views-on-public-nudity-in-changing-rooms-worth-consideration
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/101444713/debate-sparked-over-etiquette-inside-pool-changing-rooms
I'd call it recent - but then I'm older than dirt and remember nude swims at the Y and mandatory nude showers after PE class. Cell phones and gender integration are what ultimately put an end to that. There was also a notion developed that locker room nudity could be embarassing/triggering so locker rooms got turned into trigger free zones of sorts. Plus a general paranoia about pedophiles everywhere.
I have to admit that over the past few years I had been slowly adopting the new locker room "modesty etiquette." However, after visiting a couple of nudist resorts in Florida I have gone back to the way I was raised. I mean that while I don't see any need to flaunt nudity in the locker room, I don't go to extraordinary measures to hide while showering or changing clothing. But I see that I am in the minority (a very small minority).
Someone told me that fear of homosexuality is the reason for all the modesty. I don't know if there is any truth in that claim. For me personally, I can relate that visiting a nudist resort did not change my sexual orientation (heterosexual). It did however leave me with the feeling that us men are strange looking creatures.
My feeling is that part of the reason for the closure of a dozen camps is partly due to the business model of the camps. Since many of them were started a generation or so ago without any thought to a successor to own or govern them, several closed when the owners passed on without a mechanism for handing them over to a group of investors. One way to ensure the perpetuity of a naturist camp, like any other business, is to establish it in the first place as a corporation, with officers, a succession plan, stock holders, and a larger group of financially responsible caretakers who are willing to be part of a larger entity. This is a tall order but would go a long way to ensure the survival of a naturist camp after a single owner or original group of owners passed on or became unable to continue the management responsibilities. This also raises the issue of a naturist campground organization beginning to train, supervise, and include a new younger generation of stockholders or partners who are prepared to take over. The succession of any business through the "passing the baton" of one generation to the next is always a stressful transition period in any business, but one that would ensure the survival of the business. Therefore I would suggest that the AANR develop a business-training program to assist club owners in preparing for this transition in case they don't already have a plan. Unfortunately, many owner will look at the situation as a time to "cash out" and give the proceeds to their heirs. While this is their right, this situation could have been avoided if a different business model were put in place initially. Many naturists don't concern themselves with these details. However this would help secure the longevity of a naturist corporation. Again, the successors would be groomed well ahead of time and become familiar with the running of the business including taxes, maintenance issues, payroll, expenses, promotion, and state, county, and local governmental relations.
Well, that sounds good on paper. I know a little about two clubs in California that I've visited but which soon folded. Elysium was run by Ed Lange for many years, in spite of opposition from neighbors (in a very expensive neighborhood). When he died, two daughters inherited the property. But they weren't very interested in the business, and probably got plenty of money when the property was sold. Swallows Sun Island was destroyed in a wildfire. Another person bought the property and tried to rebuild, but apparently couldn't afford to finish and eventually sold the property to some sort of church.
Just this year, two small naturist places in Vermont closed - Abbott's Glen and Coventry Club. Both were strictly family-run operations. Coventry had been a naturist camp for 67 years, and Abbott's Glen was an inn with a small camping area. In the Coventry case the elderly owners couldn't find a buyer who would keep it naturist. Vermont, after all, has a rather short naturist season.
Lange probably intended his daughters to benefit from the inheritance. Can't blame him too much for that. In general, I think the owners of small naturist places don't want to incorporate because they don't want anyone else telling them how to run the operation. If a club incorporates, then whoever has a majority of the shares can decide what happens - and they'll probably do whatever makes them the most money.
--- continued in next comment ---
I doubt that there are many dedicated naturists wealthy enough to purchase a medium-to-large scale naturist place. The main interest of most wealthy people is to get as much more money as they can, no matter what. Another solution is for naturist club members themselves to own the property jointly as a co-operative. When one decides to leave, they just sell their share to another naturist. This used to be common in the early days of naturism - when desirable land was MUCH cheaper. The Sequoians in Northern California is still run that way.
In the long run, the best solution is for naturism to become much more popular, so that any decent naturist property will have plenty of business to continue thriving as a naturist destination no matter what. If ownership changes for whatever reason, there will be plenty of incentive to remain naturist. There's a "law" of economics known as supply and demand. If enough demand is there, the supply will surely follow.
Hi Charles, Shirley Mason (aka, "Mother of Haulover Beach") here. Very good article. It's always good to learn some new information about things you're familiar with. I would like to point out three things that you may want to research and cover in a future article.
1) Florida free beach naturist groups and organizations have taken a different approach to creating safe, well managed clothing-optional beaches and pushing the envelope by successfully challenging anti-nudity rules, local laws and assumptions from government authorities (and the public). It's called the Haulover Model.
2) What has AANR, TNS (since Lee's departure), TNSF, NAC and NEF done proactive to grow nude recreation for either landed clubs and/or c/o beaches?
3) Since our c/o beaches are the natural locations for growing membership in organizations and visitors to privately-owned facilities, what has been done to support these sites and market to skinny-dippers who frequent these locations?
BTW, in my former role as President of South Florida Free Beaches and as executive director of B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation, I have personally tracked the number of visitors to the c/o beach at Haulover and its parking revenue since SFFB established this beach and compared it to the Miami-Dade County's other and much larger textile beach-park. Knowing far too many long-standing historic c/o beaches has been lost and Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook, New Jersey and Little Beach in Hawaii are being poised to go textile post haste.
Hi, Shirley, I don't know whether you recall, but we've communicated before. We spoke briefly at a Western Naturist Gathering, and later had a phone conversation about me possibly participating in NEF.
The nude beach situation certainly is worrying. Obviously, the political climate in Florida is not good for naturism, but I'm surprised that even Gunnison in New Jersey is at risk. There are a couple of aspects to this problem. One is that most clothing-optional beaches still around are on the coasts, so most naturists can't visit them very often, if at all. But more broadly, younger people (Millennials and Gen-Z) just aren't nearly as interested in naturism as our generation. That's a huge problem.
My take on the problem, which I'll be discussing much more in future newsletters, is that current naturists need to make much more effort to talk up naturism to as many of their friends and relatives as possible. I think that should be much more effective than what top-down organizations like TNSF and AANR can do. The reason is that people someone knows personally and is respected by are more likely to be persuaded than they would be by organizations or what they can find online.
So the problem to solve is how to persuade current naturists to become active advocates for naturism. And the main argument for doing so is that they'll have more people to enjoy naturism with together - at home and at established naturist places. It's pleasant to meet amicable strangers at beaches and clubs, but people spend much more time with personal acquaintances.
If you'd be interested in writing a guest article for this newsletter, I'd be delighted to run it. You (and Richard) can say so much about managing a clothing-optional beach, and what might be done to stop losing existing beaches. Or developing new ones - such as Blind Creek - working with local tourist bureaus, etc.