LIFE at the Beach

Coastal Living and LIFE.com honor the iconic photographs from LIFE magazine that capture our longtime love affair with the sea.

LIFE magazine image by Cornell Capa
Photographer Cornell Capa/LIFE magazine

Sitting Pretty, 1946

Photographer Cornell Capa

What is it about summer that jogs our sweetest memories? America’s days of innocence are easily remembered in these idyllic images of Cape Cod. They take us back to a time when boys in Chuck Taylors parked themselves on curbs outside shops with soda fountains. Young ones tiptoed off with best friends to secret hiding spots. And adults found peace on the pages of a sketchbook on a quiet stretch of shore. ―Kristen Shelton

NextCape Cod, 1946

LIFE magazine image by JWilliam C. Shrout

Previous Slide Beach Days, 1942

LIFE magazine image by Cornell Capa

Next Slide Cape Cod, 1946

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LIFE magazine image by Cornell Capa

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