The History of Showers

Nowadays, most people in the Western world prefer showers over baths. It is necessary to take a shower once a day day. There isn't time to take a bath before work or school every morning. This is a far cry from the phobia against bathing that existed during the Dark Ages.

It is speculated that the modern shower's origins lie with waterfalls. People were already bathing in rivers and streams, so they utilized the pressure from the falling water in order to wash away the dirt and grime on their bodies.

Body Bath

The Ancient Greeks also had a sort of shower. Servants would pour buckets of cold water on the bather as they scrubbed themselves clean. This was not quite as relaxing as the other types of baths that the Ancient Greeks were known for, like their steam sauna, communal sauna, and other types of sauna therapy. The Ancient Greeks would also shower in the cold water that spouted off of the side of large city fountains.

The Ancient Egyptians had a shower room that was very similar to the Ancient Greeks', where slaves dumped vases of cold water over the bather's body.

Ancient Babylon had aqueducts and waste pipes about two and a half thousand years before Europe managed to develop them. Thus, wealthy and important Babylonians had access to water in their private bathrooms. King Nebuchadnezzar had a personal shower room, where he would slather his body with soap made from tallow and ash while his servants poured water onto his body.

During the Dark Ages of Europe and among early Christians, bathing was associated with vanity and therefore declared as unholy. Bathing became more popular when the queen made a request for a bathtub installation of her own bathtub in a time where bathtubs were apprehensively looked upon. In spite of this, bathing was still considered a frivolous waste of time for many years afterwards.

The first and most elaborate shower apparatus was the English Regency Shower, created in 1810. It stood twelve feet tall, with a round basin at the bottom for the bather to stand in and a tank at the top to hold water.

The tank had a drain inside of it and was attached to the basin with ten foot long poles. The entire device was made out of metal, painted to imitate the texture of bamboo. Water would be dumped onto the bather's head, drained from the basin, and pumped back up to the tank via a hollow pole. The water would be showered upon the bather's head once again.

The bather wore a precursor to the shower cap- a tall, conical hat made out of an oily cloth to protect their hair. Even the wealthier class was apprehensive of the shower, most of these new devices used cold water, so their innovative merits did not surpass the relaxing and comfortable feeling of a hot tub spa or an outdoor hot tub.

Hot tubs were not as common as hot baths, but they both had the advantage of warm water. The ice cold water that most showers used, in addition to the strange new method of bathing, caused most people to be completely disinterested in using them.

The 1800s finally led to the development of indoor plumbing, and heated tap water followed closely behind. In 1889, JL Mott Iron Works invented a new showering apparatus. Exposed pipes sprayed jets of water at the bather from every angle in a similar way to the modern power shower.

Steam shower enclosures are a recent innovation in bathing. Steam showers usually come in stand-alone steam shower units. A type of humidifier/steam generator produces a warm mist around the bather's body.

Steam showers are much like ordinary steam rooms or saunas, but they have many components of a personal shower. Most steam showers are kept in enclosures so that the walls and paint of the bathroom are protected from moisture damage.

The History of Showers

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