16 Photos That Capture the Magic of East Coast Summers

East Coast summers have a magic all their own. Long days on the beach leave you sunburned and salty, evenings mean dripping ice cream cones on the boardwalk, and the hum of cicadas fill the air once the sun goes down. Families are crammed into cottages, friends pile into station wagons, and time moves a little slower. These vintage snapshots take us back to those days on those beaches, to the point that we can practically smell the Coppertone and salty air.

1. Boy Scouts at Camp Greenough in Cape Cod (1970)

2. Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island (1967)

3. Posing for a Picture on Tybee Island in Georgia (1946)

4. Cape Cod Art Colony (1948)

5. Sunglasses and Classic Cars on the Beach in Rhode Island (1955)

6. East Coast Surfing Championship (1965)

7. East Coast Surfers (1940)

8. Chilling on the Beach in Cape Cod (1987)

9. Crowded Atlantic City Beach (1908)

10. Summer Camp in Maine (1980)

11. New Hampshire Summer Resort (1960s)

12. Outdoorsy Boys in Maine (1985)

13. Suntans and Sideburns at Old Orchard Beach in Maine (1975)

14. Cruising on a Speedboat in New England (1958)

15. New England Summer (Early 1980s)

16. Dropping the Top on the Mustang (1995)

Craving more summer vignettes? 

Don’t miss out on 19 Nostalgic Photos That Show the Magic of ’90s Summer Vacations and From Camp to Cookouts: 25 Throwback Photos of Summer Fun in the ’80s. Plus, these 15 Photos From the ‘Summer of Love’ show a whole other side of summer.