Mature woman lying on bed, rear view. (Photo by Andersen Ross/Getty Images)

American actress Raquel Welch on a balcony overlooking a street in London, 1970. (Photo by Evening Standard). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Two women lighting cigarettes on a tennis court in Essex, England circa 1930's. (Photo by Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images)

Two elderly men smoking pipes of opium on a terrace in Korea. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). August 1950

With temperatures soaring and summer well underway, countless Americans will be spending their Independence Day weekend at the beach. Here we revisit some classic images from the turn-of-the-century to the 1930's of vacations by the sea, from Coney Island to Santa Monica.

Harris & Ewing Inc. photographed people, events, and architecture, particularly in Washington, D.C., during the period 1905-1945. Photo: Tests of Curtiss Palne for Army, Single Control. Created by Harris & Ewing. Published in 1912.

An elephant from Earl's Court Circus with a man in its mouth, 1928. P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.