Bathtub

For the foundations of the World Trade Center, please see The Bathtub

A bathtub

A bathtub (or simply bath) is a plumbing fixture used for bathing. Most modern bathtubs are made of acrylic or fiberglass, but alternatives are available in the form of porcelain-coated steel or increasingly wood. Older western bathtubs are usually made of galvanized steel or iron. Traditional Japanese bathtubs were usually of a wooden construction.

Until recently, most bathtubs were roughly rectangular in shape but with the advent of acrylic thermoformed baths, more and more shapes are becoming available. Bathtubs are typically white in colour although many other colours can be found. Modern bathtubs encompass an overflow and waste and may or may not have taps mounted on them. They may be built-in or free standing or sometimes sunken.

The issues of depth and intended use are what separates a bathtub from a hot tub or other recreational bathing facilities. A bathtub is usually placed in a bathroom either as a stand-alone fixture or in conjunction with a shower. Any historical view of bathtubs should be aware of the 1917 Bathtub hoax.

The process for enamelling cast iron bathtubs was invented by the Scottish-American David Dunbar Buick, who later went on to invent the OHV engine, and found the Buick Motor Company.

Contents

1 Tub bathing
2 Clawfoot Tub
3 A Short History of Bathing
4 See also
5 Bibliography
6 External links

Tub bathing

When bathing in a bathtub one usually removes all clothing and lies down in the bathtub. Soap and salt may be used when bathing.

Clawfoot Tub

The Clawfoot Tub or Claw Foot Tub is typically made of cast iron, but there are also acrylic clawfoot tub models. Modern technology has recently dropped the price of new clawfoot tubs down to around $1000 including shipping. Hence, while true antique clawfoot tubs are still collected, restored, and coveted by some, new reproduction clawfoot tubs are the overwhelming choice of remodellers & new home builders today.

Clawfoot tubs come in 5 major styles:

Classic Roll Rim or Flat Rim tubs as seen in the picture above.
Slipper tubs - where one end is raised and sloped creating a more comfortable lounging position.
Double Slipper Tubs - where both ends are raised and sloped
Double Ended Tubs- where both ends of the tub are rounded. Notice how one end of the classic tub is rounded and one is fairly flat.
Pedestal Tub - Pedestal tubs, unlike all the style listed above, do not have claw feet. The tub rests on a pedestal in what most would term an art deco style. Evidence of pedestal tubs date back to the Isle of Crete in 1000 B.C.

A Short History of Bathing

Documented early plumbing systems go back as far as around 3300 B.C. with the discovery of copper water pipes beneath a palace in the Indus River Valley in India. Evidence of the first personal sized bath tub was found on the Isle of Crete where a 5 foot long pedestal tub was found built from hardened pottery. This tub is the most likely forefather of the classic 19th century clawfoot tub.

The Roman Empire is most widely known as the early champions of bathing. Around 500 B.C. Roman citizens were encouraged to bathe daily in one of the many public baths. Private bathing rooms were far more ornate and typically would resemble shallow swimming pools that encompassed the entire room. The Romans used marble for the tubs, lead and bronze for pipes, and created a complex sewage system for sanitation purposes. The Roman empire set the early bar for personal hygiene as we know it today.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire, bathing and sanitation were a lost practice. During the Dark Ages, bathing was replaced by the use of perfume. Chamberpots were disposed of out the window and into streets and rivers that served as water supplies. This decline of sanitation in general made a fertile ground for germs that would eventually bring on the Bubonic Plague. The Plague devastated cities in Europe, many losing 1/3 to 1/2 of their population. While the Plague did move some governments to make improvements in sewage systems and water supplies, modern sanitation as we know it was not widely adapted until the 19th century.

The bathtub's modern spouse, the toilet, had its own issues in gaining acceptance. Sir John Harrington invented the first flushing toilets for himself and for his loving Godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. When Harrington published a book describing his invention, he was roundly chided by peers, embarrassing him to the point of retirement from the world of plumbing. His two toilets were the only two he ever produced. The next water closet would not be seen for 200 years when the water closet was introduced by Alexander Cummings in 1775. This would be the very beginnings of the modern bathroom age.

It was now time for the piping to catch up with the fixtures. Up until the 19th century, most water pipes in the US were made from hollow trees. In the early 1800's cast iron production began domestically reducing the reliance on England for the cast iron. Finally in 1848, The National Public Health Act was passed in the US creating a plumbing code for the first time.

In 1883 Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company and Kohler Company began producing cast iron bathtubs. Far from the ornate feet and luxury most associated with clawfoot tubs an early Kohler tub was advertised as a "horse trough/hog scalder, when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub." It is almost humorous to see that a hog scalder was more important then a bathtub when it came to marketing the item for sale. Everyone knew what a hog scalder or horse trough was, but many people at that time had never bathed in a tub. In truth, these tubs caught on because of the sanitary and easy to clean suface that prevent the spread of disease then from any notion of wanting to smell nice for your neighbors.

A few years later Thomas Twyford created the first valveless toilet constructed from china. Before this time, toilets were normally made from metal and wood. Thomas Crapper would gain infamy as the inventor of the modern toilet when he bought the rights to a patent for a "Silent Valveless Water Waste Preventer", but he did not invent the toilet.

The bathing world was rocked by controversy by a completely inaccurate account of bathing and bathtub history authored by H.L. Mencken in 1917. What began as a light attempt at humor by Mencken, ended up being adopted as the truth by the public and even reputable publications. While perhaps good reading, none of the Mencken's account about laws prohibiting bathing, and much more, is true.

The end of World War I brought a housing construction boom to the United States, and with it, a new room for the modern bathroom. Any bathrooms prior to World War I were typically a bedroom or spare room converted into a bathroom, not a room built originally for bathroom fixtures. Complete with toilet, sink and clawfoot bathtub, the percentage of new homes with a modern bathroom would rise from 1% in 1921 up to 100% by the end of the 20th century.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the once popular clawfoot tub morphed into a built-in tub with a small apron front. This enclosed style afforded much easier maintenance of the bathroom and with the emergence of colored sanitary ware, more design options for the homeowner. The Crane Company introduced colored bathroom fixtures to the US market in 1928, and slowly this influx of design options and easier maintenance led to the near demise of clawfoot style tubs.

Bibliography

http://www.thewholesaler.com/pdf/pe/articles/hist-all.pdf
http://www.au.kohler.com/history.html
http://www.craneco.com/about/history.cfm
http://www.sniggle.net/bathtub.php
http://www.vintagetub.com/asp/antique_bath_information.asp
http://www.bathtubmuseum.org

External links