Air bathing was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and celebrated the unclothed experience of nature.  

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The people’s air baths usually consist of meadow, pasture or woodland enclosures, on the outskirts of the city, which are provided with numerous inexpensively built dressing compartments, and with some gymnastic apparatus and possibly a plain shower bath to be used after taking a sun bath. The air baths are always arranged separately for men and women. and are surrounded with very high board fences, which secure privacy and prevent inquisitive people from viewing the interior of the baths. Ball-playing and bowling are favorite pastimes, and it would not surprise me to find lawn tennis and even golf-playing introduced at an early date.

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The Benefit of Air Baths

AUGUST 1 1909 WILLIAM PAUL GERHARD