Sandcastles Have Lots of Substance, Or Do They?
By Veronica MacDonald Ditko
An Accidental Anthropologist
Summer is here and sandcastles are on my mind. It seems natural to want to make something out of the immense stretches of sand down south. It’s like a huge sandbox! Put a pile of it in front of a baby and he/she starts working on it immediately. But who ever thought of making castles? And furthermore, when did it become a competition?
Ancient Egyptians made little pyramid prototypes out of sand before building the real thing. The world’s first modelers! After that point in time, very little documentation exists of sandcastles. The word “sandcastle” appeared around 1850 or 1855 in America, according to dictionary.com.
Then a man named Philip McCord made a sand sculpture of a woman and baby in 1897 in Atlantic City. He solicited donations from tourists to make a living. Where there is money to be made, competition naturally follows.
Besides the lovely shoreline decoration, the word sandcastle also means “something without substance.” Maybe seemingly frivolous people with lots of leisure time could make such things in the past.
Or perhaps the meaning came about because most sandcastles are only made of sand and water. Sand castle competitions actually have some pretty strict rules. For smaller, family-oriented competitions in Oregon, only sand, water, shells and other natural beach materials found on the beach that day can be used. No power tools are allowed, only hand tools.
For master competitions, more tools are allowed, such as white glue diluted with water and garden-type sprayers to keep the castles together and on display for weeks. Otherwise only simple materials such as 5-gallon buckets are allowed, as well as things to make molds like plywood and nails. Small hand tools such as shovels, carvers, stakes, and surveyor’s tape are also permitted.
Sand sculptures are judged on originality, technical difficulty, faithfulness to a theme, execution, and use of space, according to sandcastlecentral.com. The plot given in a serious competition is 20 by 20 feet. That’s almost as big as some houses!
The 24th Annual New Jersey Sandcastle Contest is set for July 14th at Belmar’s 18th Avenue Beach. All age groups can enter. So either get your shovels or get your cameras ready! Who says sandcastles have no substance!? I dare you to prove them wrong.
Veronica MacDonald Ditko is originally from the Jersey Shore, but married and settled in northern New Jersey. Her journalism career started a decade ago after studying Psychology and Anthropology in Massachusetts. She has written for several newspapers and magazines including The Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Springfield Union News and Sunday Republican, Happi, Chemical Week, The Hawthorne Press, The Jewish Standard, Suite101.com and more.