Many people would answer a hearty ‘No!’ to that question. The shower has become the preferred means of bathing our bodies for most people. They are quicker than filling a tub with water and can be an invigorating way to start the day. In addition, the squeaky clean feeling you get after having rinsed off all the grime with the soap just can’t be compared to that of a bath. We take our showers very much for granted until we have to go without one for a few days, but you may not realize that showers have been a regular part of home bathing for a relatively short time.
Just think about all the cowboy movies you’ve seen. Did you ever see a cowboy take a shower? No. It was always a bath. It didn’t take long for this to change. As soon as indoor plumbing and running water became a standard in homes, people began finding ways to get their cleansing from overhead.
There were showerheads attached to clawfoot tubs and handheld shower attachments for your tub faucet. Although you’ll find multi-head showers in mansions from the early 1900’s, the shower or shower-tub combination didn’t become a common bathroom plumbing feature in most homes until the second half of the 20th century.
The next time you step into your nice warm shower, you might want to think about how nice it is to be living in a time and place where you can enjoy that little luxury that we so easily take for granted.
