10 Plus Things You Didn’t Know About July 4th

BONUS:

As promised, while July 4th is our national holiday, in 1946 one day after our Independence Day, July 5th, a French designer named Louis Reard  unveiled the modern design for the two piece bikini.  He named the design after “Bikini Atoll” where the US had, earlier in the week, tested an atomic bomb.   The design came about following the end of WWII in the first summer of non-fighting since hostilities began in Europe.  Two designs were actually made by two different French designers with the other being called “Atomic”.  It obviously didn’t take.

Reard had one problem however and that was finding a “swimsuit” model.  Most women and professional models scoffed at the idea of wearing what amounted to a bra and two triangle patches attached with strings, in public.  Reard solved this problem by hiring an exotic dancer who had no problem going nearly nude.  The bikini was a hit for both men and women and it began to grow in popularity around the Mediterranean.

In the United States the bikini was held off.  A prudish nation simply wouldn’t accept the “immorality” of the bathing suit.  In the 1960’s however, thanks in large part to the emergence of the surf culture in California and the “Beach Blanket Bingo” styled movies of the time, the two piece bathing suit became not only popular but a staple in American culture.

Which leads us back to July 4th and our final fun fact for the day.  More people, from Chicago to Coney Island, NY, from the east coast Atlantic Ocean to the California Pacific, more people visit the beach on July 4th than any other day of the year.  Which means of course that is exactly where you will see the most bikinis.

So from us here at PhinPhanatic.com to all of you on our Independence Day, Happy 4th of July!  Enjoy the video!