Picture a fervid day in Rio, 1945. Lian Pontes de Carvalho, a handsome carioca de gema, strides past the opulent Copacabana Palace hotel (below) onto the soft sands of Copacabana Beach. Under his arm is a set of wooden beach bats, handcrafted from smooth pieces of driftwood, and in his pocket, the inner ball from a tennis ball.

“Bom dia, Lian!” cries his friend as Lian hands him a bat. Before long, the pair jocularly rally the ball back and forth, no rules, no scores, inventing in that moment the beautiful game of frescobol.

This was Brazil’s Golden Age, also known as the Tropical Belle Époque. It was a time when film stars would lounge by the pool of the Copacabana Hotel sipping cocktails; when the city danced to the soft notes of Tom Jobim’s bossa nova, and when the young Carioca would invent a beach game so synchronous with the spirit of the city that its legacy remains strong today.

This was Brazil’s Golden Age, also known as the Tropical Belle Époque. It was a time when film stars would lounge by the pool of the Copacabana Hotel sipping cocktails; when the city danced to the soft notes of Tom Jobim’s bossa nova, and when the young Carioca would invent a beach game so synchronous with the spirit of the city that its legacy remains strong today.