beachcomber (noun)

beach· comb· er ˈbēch-ˌkō-mər

The meaning of the word “beachcomber” has come a long way. In his 1840 book, Two Years Before the Mast, Richard Henry Dana Jr. described beachcombers as “half of the Americans and English who are adrift along the coasts of the Pacific and its islands.” Some of these beachcombers were sailors, castaways, or prisoners who had jumped ship and made a living by selling or trading flotsam and jetsam found on the shore.

The 1889 Century Dictionary defines a beachcomber as “A seafaring man generally, of vagrant and drunken habits, who idles about the wharves of seaports; used most frequently in countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.” The 1913 Webster’s Dictionary defined beachcomber as “A vagrant seaman, usually of low character, who loiters about seaports, particularly on the shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean.”

Today, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language has more definitions for beachcomber, adding “A seaside vacationer,” and the Collaborative International Dictionary of English includes “a person who searches along a beach for objects of value, such as lost objects or seashells.”

It’s this last definition that usually describes today’s beachcombers. While some sell or trade their finds—like the beachcombers of old—many simply collect them for their own personal enjoyment and display. And today’s beachcombers are more likely to be stewards of the shoreline, taking care not to kill mollusks for their shells, dig out fossils from stone, take coral from the beach, or disturb wildlife living there. And, instead of collecting only treasures, they pick up trash along the way.

This article appeared in Beachcombing Magazine Volume 42 May/June 2024.