Do you like volleyball? Look at the folks in this Bacardi advert- from 1979. They've given up on the volleyball and are about to succumb to alcoholism. If you've ever spent an hour in 40 degree heat trying to batter an old football over a saggy net, spending most of the time falling on your ass blinded by sweat and chewing sand you'll understand the temptation to reach for the bottle.
When in 1895 William G. Morgan of Holyoke (Mas.) YMCA devised Mintonette as an indoor game to rival basketball, it was rather devoid of glamour. Beach volleyball evolved in the 1920's amongst the surfers of Hawaii, soon spreading to California. (For more on the history of beach volleyball...)
This picture shows an early beach volleyball gathering in Hawaii:
Here we see actress and model Greta Thyssen with Gene Selznick and Bernie Holtzman, winners of the 1957 state beach open, Santa Monica, California.
Impromptu games resembling volleyball were a feature of Kartoshka family vacations back in the day.
In the above pic are a very young Pa Kartoshka, Maria - Bethania, one of Uncle Carlos' innumerable 'step children', and the man himself- Carlos Alberto Dos Santos, aka Uncle Carlos.
These days of course, the beach volleyball is notable for the way in which male fans turn out in large numbers purely to show their appreciation for the athletic prowess of the female competitors:
