Bathing Years Ago

People in the past didn't view taking baths the way we do. In fact, for much of history, bathing was considered to be potentially harmful, and certainly very few attempted to bathe in a tub or creek during the winter.

Most baths were what we would call a sponge bath. A person washed off a little using a wash basin, but even this wasn't done daily. Body odor was common, and those who could afford them used colognes and perfumes to disguise the smell.

Tubs were often small to cut down on the work of filling and emptying them. Modern indoor plumbing came about from the mid-1800's on, but many families didn't have it until much later. Even after they had indoor plumbing, not everyone had a hot water heater, and many farm

families still pulled out the galvanized tub to sun heat bath water in the warmer months. Weekly full baths had become common by the turn of the century, but so were quick sponge baths in between. Hygiene and bathing have come a long way since those early days.

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