by Claire O'Neill

Believe it or not, it's already June, which means millions of people will be hitting the beach over the next few weeks. To celebrate the summer sun, we're taking a look back at beach scenes through the years.

  • Peggy Bacon in midair back flip, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, 1937.
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    Peggy Bacon in midair back flip, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, 1937.
    Ted Hood/State Library of New South Wales Collection
  • Three Girls Making a "Sandman" At The Beach, 1964.
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    Three Girls Making a "Sandman" At The Beach, 1964.
    State Library and Archives of Florida
  • A beach photographer takes a portrait of a mother and her two children, Netherlands, circa 1930.
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    A beach photographer takes a portrait of a mother and her two children, Netherlands, circa 1930.
    Nationaal Archief
  • Nuns love the beach! At least the nuns in this undated Dutch photo do.
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    Nuns love the beach! At least the nuns in this undated Dutch photo do.
    Nationaal Archief
  • Atlantic City Beach, 1900
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    Atlantic City Beach, 1900
    William M. Vander Weyde, George Eastman House Collection
  • Atlantic City Beach, circa 1905
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    Atlantic City Beach, circa 1905
    William M. Vander Weyde, George Eastman House Collection
  • What looks like a mound of sand is actually a giant beached sunfish at Awatuna, near Hokitika, New Zealand, 1910.
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    What looks like a mound of sand is actually a giant beached sunfish at Awatuna, near Hokitika, New Zealand, 1910.
    James Ring/National Library NZ
  • Beach acrobatics at Bondi Beach, 1935
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    Beach acrobatics at Bondi Beach, 1935
    Ted Hood/State Library of New South Wales
  • There's nothing like a full suit and socks on the beach.
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    There's nothing like a full suit and socks on the beach.
    Nationaal Archief
  • Gymnasts at Bondi Beach, 1936
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    Gymnasts at Bondi Beach, 1936
    George Caddy/State Library of New South Wales
  • In this undated photo, a Dutch family sets up chairs in the incoming tide.
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    In this undated photo, a Dutch family sets up chairs in the incoming tide.
    Nationaal Archief

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These photos were taken from Flickr commons, where cultural heritage institutions such as the Library of Congress and The Smithsonian share their archives with the public. One noteworthy set of images, called "Bondi Jitterbug," comes from the Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Taken by champion jitterbug dancer George Caddy in the 1930s and '40s, the photos document a lost form of beachside gymnastics called "beachobatics." To learn more about this rare art, watch this multimedia presentation on The Sydney Morning Herald's Web site.

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