The History of Showers

Nowadays, most people in the Western world preferthe English Regency Shower, created in 1810. It
showers over baths. It is necessary to take astood twelve feet tall, with a round basin at the
shower once a day day. There isn't time to take abottom for the bather to stand in and a tank at the
bath before work or school every morning. This is atop to hold water.
far cry from the phobia against bathing that existedThe tank had a drain inside of it and was attached to
during the Dark Ages.the basin with ten foot long poles. The entire device
It is speculated that the modern shower's origins liewas made out of metal, painted to imitate the
with waterfalls. People were already bathing in riverstexture of bamboo. Water would be dumped onto
and streams, so they utilized the pressure from thethe bather's head, drained from the basin, and
falling water in order to wash away the dirt andpumped back up to the tank via a hollow pole. The
grime on their bodies.water would be showered upon the bather's head
The Ancient Greeks also had a sort of shower.once again.
Servants would pour buckets of cold water on theThe bather wore a precursor to the shower cap- a
bather as they scrubbed themselves clean. This wastall, conical hat made out of an oily cloth to protect
not quite as relaxing as the other types of bathstheir hair. Even the wealthier class was apprehensive
that the Ancient Greeks were known for, like theirof the shower, most of these new devices used cold
steam sauna, communal sauna, and other types ofwater, so their innovative merits did not surpass the
sauna therapy. The Ancient Greeks would alsorelaxing and comfortable feeling of a hot tub spa or
shower in the cold water that spouted off of thean outdoor hot tub.
side of large city fountains.Hot tubs were not as common as hot baths, but
The Ancient Egyptians had a shower room that wasthey both had the advantage of warm water. The
very similar to the Ancient Greeks', where slavesice cold water that most showers used, in addition to
dumped vases of cold water over the bather's body.the strange new method of bathing, caused most
Ancient Babylon had aqueducts and waste pipespeople to be completely disinterested in using them.
about two and a half thousand years before EuropeThe 1800s finally led to the development of indoor
managed to develop them. Thus, wealthy andplumbing, and heated tap water followed closely
important Babylonians had access to water in theirbehind. In 1889, JL Mott Iron Works invented a new
private bathrooms. King Nebuchadnezzar had ashowering apparatus. Exposed pipes sprayed jets of
personal shower room, where he would slather hiswater at the bather from every angle in a similar
body with soap made from tallow and ash while hisway to the modern power shower.
servants poured water onto his body.Steam shower enclosures are a recent innovation in
During the Dark Ages of Europe and among earlybathing. Steam showers usually come in stand-alone
Christians, bathing was associated with vanity andsteam shower units. A type of humidifier/steam
therefore declared as unholy. Bathing became moregenerator produces a warm mist around the bather's
popular when the queen made a request for abody.
bathtub installation of her own bathtub in a timeSteam showers are much like ordinary steam rooms
where bathtubs were apprehensively looked upon. Inor saunas, but they have many components of a
spite of this, bathing was still considered a frivolouspersonal shower. Most steam showers are kept in
waste of time for many years afterwards.enclosures so that the walls and paint of the
The first and most elaborate shower apparatus wasbathroom are protected from moisture damage.