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During the Victorian era, it was illegal in many places for men and women to be within 60 feet of each other at the beach. To bypass this, women used "bathing machines" — mobile fortresses that were horse-drawn into the waves so they could swim in total privacy away from the gaze of onlookers. In the 1800s, modesty was so strictly enforced that it was illegal in many places for men and women to be on the same stretch of beach. By 1832, laws even dictated a 60-foot buffer zone between the sexes. Because it was considered scandalous for a "proper" lady to be seen in a swimsuit, the "Bathing Machine" was invented. These were essentially wooden huts on wheels that functioned as mobile dressing rooms. A woman would enter the hut on dry land, change into her swimwear, and then wait as a horse pulled the entire structure into the surf. Once deep enough, she would emerge from a door facing the open ocean, shielded from the gaze of men on the shore. To ensure she actually got into the water, strong attendants known as "dippers" would often stand by to literally dunk the bathers into the waves. **See more vintage photos of the machines here:** [In Victorian Times, Women Had To Be Carried To The Beach](https://inter.st/d9tf)