Now that school is out, kids everywhere are gearing up for one of the most delightful-but-sometimes-harrowing American summer pastimes: going to camp. Whether you have good or bad memories of scrapping through the forest and singing in a log cabin, you might appreciate the fact that some of your favorite cultural icons, from Bob Dylan to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, went through it too. After the jump, a selection of charming photographs that might just make you nostalgic for camp — or glad you’re too grown up for it now.
Bob Dylan (then Zimmerman) at Herzl Camp circa 1957. [via]
Lena Dunham and her cute crew from Sandy Hollow Day Camp. [via]
Zach Braff at performing arts camp Stagedoor Manor in 1997, acting in Once Upon a Mattress. [via]
A very tiny Taylor Swift (center) at Vacation Bible School in Reading, PA. [via]
Robert Downey Jr, age 11, at Stagedoor Manor in 1976. [via]
Longtime camper Leonard Cohen at Camp Mishmar as a 24-year-old counselor. Third from left, back row. [via]
A 15-year-old Natalie Portman as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at Stagedoor Manor in 1996. [via]
Natalie Portman also hung out with Bryce Dallas Howard at camp — they were in A Midsummer Night’s Dream together. [via]
In 1948, at age 15, Ruth Bader Ginsburg acted as camp rabbi at Che-Na-Wah, in Minerva, New York. [via]
Penny Marshall at camp. [via]
Mandy Moore at Stagedoor Manor in 1996. [via]
A teenage Jon Cryer at Stagedoor. [via]