As a kid, I did a couple of Summer sessions at the Eastman School in Rochester. A number of my fellows expressed great longing to attend the Interlochen program someday. I now know why.

it looked like a giant computer keyboard.

Miners used to use the same system when they went underground. Without wanting to be morbid, if you turn up missing your peers know where you last went.

By 1942 the Boy Scouts had taken the swim tag system (check in / check out) to the next level and required that at least two swimmers check in as a pair (or triple) with each person having the responsibility of knowing where his buddy was. On a regular basis, one of the waterfront staff would call for a buddy check to verify that the right number of swimmers were in the water. The disks in this picture would be called buddy tags each indicating the swimmer's name and swimming ability. The pair of tags would be hung on a single hook to indicate who was swimming with whom. As you left the water, you were responsible for making sure that you got your tag back to keep the count correct.

The parents took us camping up there in the late 50's, remember(?) the music camp would do concerts on some evenings. But, it was the not far away Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes that really tickled my imagination. Things were still pretty primitive back then, as the photo would suggest - not so much now I'll bet.

A safety system still in use at Camp Robert Drake. BSA