In Europe, summer serves as both a season and a verb. And while, officially, Americans do not clock out en masse for the sunny months, there is a large-scale migration from south Louisiana to the sandy shores of neighboring Gulf states and the murky waters meandering through The Boot.

For Louisiana residents with second homes, they are most often on a lake or water-logged byway—False River and Lake Rosemound are among the most notable local escapes. For the Oliver family, a camp in Mandeville along Lake Pontchartrain served as their summertime retreat. The family’s Baton Rouge boat business, Anchor Marine, sponsored the cover of the July 4, 1959, issue of The Register. Owner William J. Oliver’s daughters, Sadie Lindsay and Mary Kate, then ages 12 and 17, were pictured riding on a Redfish—arguably the must-have of the summer of 1959.

The eldest, Mary Kate, spent the summer attending the Louisiana Youth Safety Council meeting at LSU, followed by an Ole Miss cheerleaders’ workshop and a week in Florida. Meanwhile, the youngest, Sadie Lindsay, competed on the Baton Rouge Country Club swimming team and raised lambs.

“Do photographers work?” reads a behind-the-scenes photo caption in The Register. Photographer Erby Aucoin waded into the waters of Lake Pontchartrain while his assistant briefly towed the boat carrying the Oliver girls and their water skis. Squealing, laughing, traveling and splashing. That is what it means to summer.