Flashback Friday - Part 1 of Swimming Jargon Used in Central Pennsylvania - 'thumb jerkers' and 'thumbers'

Several years of blogging have occurred at the Jersey Shore Swim blog with over 1000 stories and articles posted.  With that in mind, the Jersey Shore Swim blog will occasionally pull out an occasional favorite or interesting item from the archives to share with readers (plus some interesting old stuff never posted) in a series called Flashback Friday.

Back in the day, people who hitchhiked where called 'thumbers' (because they stuck out their thumb to hitch rides).  During the summer months in the Lock Haven area, many of the youth would stick out their thumbs to get a ride to the local swimming hole.  Below is the newspaper editorial calling those youth heading to the water as 'thumb jerkers' (Lock Haven Express, June 20, 1936).

Apparently it was a cause for concern as some of the town leaders tried to use this as one (of the many) of the reasons to build a swimming pool for local youth.  Below is a newspaper clipping from the Lock Haven Express, January 9th, 1935 where page two of the article references the swimming 'thumbers' (circled in red).