History of the hot tub
Encyclopedia
The medicinal uses of heated water baths have an impressive lineage. This article attempts to provide a brief overview of the history of the spa.
, a famed site of healing hot springs, Spa has been frequented as a watering-place since as early as the 14th century. Though other sources of healing hot mineral springs have become famous throughout the world, it is the town of Spa which has become eponymous with any place having a natural water source that is believed to possess special health-giving properties, as a spa. The word spa is still used, although in some regions of Europe the term “thermal waters” is preferred. The concept of submerging in heated water for therapeutic purposes has many names, e.g. balneotherapy
, spa therapy, hydrotherapy
, but for this articles purposes, spa shall do just fine.
, King of Media, in 600 B.C. The earliest forms of hot tubs were simply a caldera
in which sizzling stones had been placed to heat the water.
In Homeric times, bathing was primarily used for cleansing and hygienic purposes. By the time of Hippocrates
(460–370 BC), bathing was considered more than a simple hygienic measure; it was healthy and beneficial for most diseases. Hippocrates proposed the hypothesis that the cause of all diseases lay in an imbalance of the bodily fluids. To regain the balance a change of habits and environment was advised, which included bathing, perspiration, walking, and massages. The baths were often combined with gymnastics and education, the precursors of the gymnasium.
Today there are vestiges that still remain of Greek hydrotherapy, The Ancient Spa of Therma in Ikaria: The island of Ikaria has an abundance of the highly therapeutic radio- energized springs. They are regarded as the best in the world. Historically Therma in Ikaria has been a very popular place particularly for hydrotherapy ever since the 4th century BC.
There are basically 3 main therapeutic springs in Therma. The hot springs have curative properties and can heal a variety of illness like rheumatism
, arthrology
, arthritis
, neuralgia
as well as infertility
.
Therma derives its name from the pre-historic town of Thermae
. In the past, the residents of Thermae were popularly referred to as “Asclipians” after the name of “Asclipios” who happened to be the god of medicine. There is the"Xalasmena Therma" which is located in close proximity to the Therma town where even today one can see the vestiges of the ancient spa.
In the past, it used to be a seaside town strategically built on a small cape and was one of the most popular spas. The remains of wrecked marble bathtubs along with a pre-historic aqueduct that have been unearthed from this area bear ample testimony of the place’s popularity in the ancient times.
, and centuries later the first "ryokan" (inns) were built, offering fine food, accommodations, Zen gardens, outdoor baths and indoor soaking tubs called cypress ofuro.
, the crowning example being the Baths of Roxelana (built in 1556), with its massive towering steam rooms, private washing quarters, and sprawling massage platforms. Typical of hammam throughout the Empire, Roxelana became an important social center, particularly for Muslim women.
Taking the lead from the Greeks, Romans embraced bathing as a regular regiment for health. However, Romans considered the baths more important than the gymnastics alone. Besides cleansing, exercises, socializing, relaxation, and worship, medical treatment was also applied extensively. Now as opposed to the Greeks who used Spas as a practice following intense Gymnastics, the Roman Spas also had a medicinal emphasis and were used largely as recuperation centers for the wounded military soldiers. However, recuperative also included therapeutic centers for the healthy soldiers as well. Water applications to the ailing body were a general practice among the physicians in the ancient world. Spa treatment consisted of application of water to afflicted parts of the body, immersion of the whole body in the water (especially for rheumatic and urogenital diseases), and drinking excessive quantities of water.
In Rome, there were primarily three types of baths. There were baths at home (balnea), private baths (balnea privata), and public baths (balnea publica) that were run by the state. With the advent of the aqueducts, the concept of the “public bath” exploded to glorious edifices (thermae) with a capacity for thousands of people. The consumption of water leaped during this period, from roughly 12 litres to 1400 litres of water per person per day, mainly for bathing. The practice was so engrained that the Roman legions, during their long occupations in foreign lands, built their own baths at mineral and thermal springs in the newly conquered lands. Examples are found all over Europe.
Although as everyone knows, the therapeutic and hygienic practices of the Roman public bath slowly lost ground to the social and gatherings of ill repute as the Roman morality went on the decline in the later years.
in 476 and the rise of Christianity, it’s widely believed that among the common polulation, the cleanliness regiment went to the wayside, for the Church viewed that the practice of bathing was a prelude to forbidden behavior;
Georges Duby, in an article in A History of Private Life, suggests:
Bernard Rudofsky, in a speech reprinted in Interior Design, gives a more cheerful picture:
The early Irish considered baths a major part of hospitality, and to not offer a guest the opportunity to bathe, or at least wash hands and feet, was an insult. Irish baths were filled with cold water and then heated by dropping rocks, heated in a fire, into the water. There are some suggestions that such heated rocks may have been used to heat saunas.
Bathing in tubs was done in private homes, in monasteries, and in communal bath-houses, which were very common in cities. In the late 13th century, bathhouses in Paris employed criers to announce when the water was hot. In Gasawa Poland, Duke Henryk the Bearded and Duke Leszek Bialy were attacked in the baths in 1227. By the 15th and 16th centuries, bath-houses in Western Europe had mixed clientele, and by the end of our period of study, the 'stews' had the unsavory reputation as houses of ill-repute we remember.
Couple bathing as a prelude to intimacy is depicted in 14th through 16th century illustrations. Legal history
suggests that ordinary public bath-houses were often segregated by gender, or different times or days were restricted for each gender. Private bath-rooms in castles, such as the one at Leeds, could often accommodate multiple bathers as well. There are many illustrations depicting groups or individuals (such as Bathsheba
or Judith) bathing in fountains or spring-pools. It is hard to tell whether these are artistic fantasies, or interpretations of a common practice. [Similar illustrations show such water sources being used to wash clothes and cool wine, among other domestic chores.] Examples of such illustrations can be found in Frank Crisp's Medieval Gardens ( New York, Hacker Art Books, 1966).
Regardless, from the 13th century onwards, baths gradually came into re-use, particularly in southern Europe under the influence of the Moors. Public baths were rebuilt and the entrance was usually free. The baths were often crowded and people bathed for hours, sometimes days in the same bath. Blood letting, enemas, and drinking cures (up to 10 litres a day) were prescribed, although relaxation and pleasure were most often the reasons for bathing.
, plague, and leprosy
, and the baths became dangerous meeting places for political and religious dissidents. The economy did not help either, for not only was there a shortage of firewood, but the general upkeep of a public bath was too extensive to be supported in such an economic environment. Nevertheless, the gentry continued to visit the baths, although they preferred to go to baths from natural sources with warm, mineral water instead of the public baths.
However, as with everything in the Renaissance, the tide toward Spas change back to medicinal purposes. Several famous Italian doctors recovered lost texts on medical treatment from the ancient world, and the value of balneology as a therapeutic modality was reconsidered. By this time, the first attempts to analyse the waters for their mineral components were made, although the results were often controversial. It was equally important to recognise the quality of each mineral and its effect on the body, as to know which parts of the body might be influenced by taking the waters.
In 1571, Bacci
published De thermis, in which taking the waters was not a matter of empiricism, but a sound discipline. According to Bacci, essential to the cure was a quiet orderly life in pleasant surroundings with good food and wine, and a maximum of comfort. Therefore, he argued, the baths would do no good to the poor. Other, practical obstacles also restrained the poor from attending the baths: they had no time for leisure and the baths and mud were usually not free.
Minardo published in 1594 a compendium on the two baths of Caldiero
in Verona. The first bath was used for drinking and bathing, the second was used by bathers with skin conditions, for bathing of animals, and for washing off therapeutic mud. Seventy eight conditions that might benefit from these baths were listed. The treatments consisted of drinking cures, bathing, purging, and application of mud. It was advised to follow this type of treatment for 15 days, and repeat it every year.
The new bathing culture that had developed in Italy gradually spread over other parts of Europe, and was particularly popular with the elite. The development of spa treatment north of the Alps and by the turn of the 17th century, many spas were rediscovered in France. Two types of spas existed: hot springs for drinking and bathing, and cold springs for drinking cures only. Taking the waters in French spas was a serious activity and quite sober. Doctors created centers for treatment, not for leisure. Much attention was paid to purging, drinking cures, eating well balanced diets, and bathing. In the afternoons some indoor leisure activities were provided. Late in the afternoon, people walked about on the promenade, and went to bed early in the evening. This was in contrast with many other European countries, where in the evenings diverse leisure activities were offered such as theatre and dance.
, a German speaking town that is now part of the Czech Republic, who, in around 1829, revived it, popularizing it once more and Fr. Sebastian Kneipp
, a Bavarian priest, further developed the principles of balneotherapy
(medicinal use of thermal water) and hydrotherapy (immersion of the body in thermal water for therapeutic purposes). Individual treatments were prescribed, based on the composition and temperature of the water. Also, combinations of treatments were developed consisting of hot and cold baths, herbal baths, mud packs, active physical exercises, massages, and diets. Kneipp advocated a holistic approach to the treatment of a disease. In contrast with the spa resorts, which aimed at the elite, Kneipp directed his attentions to the common man.
Throughout Europe and the Americas the public Spas were on the rise. They were integral parts of the gentile life. Every spa resort had its own theater, casino, and promenades besides the bathing buildings. In Germany, Austria, and Belgium much importance was attached to ostentation. Grand hotels arose with casinos and dancing establishments surrounding the spa resorts. The spa resorts became not only a meeting center for the elite but also a place of creativity for painters, writers, and composers. The baths were again crowded. Baden Baden (Germany) became the most glamorous resort in continental Europe. It was the place to see and to be seen.”
However, in Britain use of the spa declined. The English spa resorts were run by amateurs, and the medical hydrology was poorly organized. The resorts aimed more at pleasure, rather than medical treatment, and were exploited by estate developers with commercial interests. Competition from seaside and foreign resorts, and an economic depression in the 1930s led to a further decline. Eventually, spa therapy was excluded from the National Health Service, which meant that many spa resorts in Britain closed down.
, a third-generation family member who had begun learning the business as a teenager. Sensing the American consumer's interest in health, fitness and leisure activities, Roy invented and marketed the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath in 1968. By incorporating jets into the sides of the tub, it became the bath that almost single-handedly created an industry.
shell hot tubs began to appear on the market around 1970. The gel-coat fiberglass construction had its own drawbacks, and was soon replaced by cast acrylic shells and, for the first time, it was easy for the owner to achieve water cleanliness. Manufacturers installed pumps, filters, control systems and, of course, jets, although the first hot tubs had very few of them.
As larger units were designed to accommodate several people, Jacuzzi incorporated heating and filtration systems to keep the water warm and clean, thus creating the first spa in 1970. In 1979, the family sold to New York-based Kidde Inc. All the family members left the business or retired, except for Roy, who stayed on to run the Jacuzzi operations.
By Any Other Name…?
Spa comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning spring fountain. This, in turn, came from the name of the Belgian town SpaSpa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
, a famed site of healing hot springs, Spa has been frequented as a watering-place since as early as the 14th century. Though other sources of healing hot mineral springs have become famous throughout the world, it is the town of Spa which has become eponymous with any place having a natural water source that is believed to possess special health-giving properties, as a spa. The word spa is still used, although in some regions of Europe the term “thermal waters” is preferred. The concept of submerging in heated water for therapeutic purposes has many names, e.g. balneotherapy
Balneotherapy
Balneotherapy is the treatment of disease by bathing, usually practiced at spas. While it is considered distinct from hydrotherapy, there are some overlaps in practice and in underlying principles. Balneotherapy may involve hot or cold water, massage through moving water, relaxation or stimulation...
, spa therapy, hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
, but for this articles purposes, spa shall do just fine.
Ancient Egypt
It is thought that the Egyptians used baths for therapeutic purposes as early as 2000 B.C. Evidence of actual spa construction also exists from PhraortesPhraortes
Phraortes , son of Diyako, was the second king of the Median Empire....
, King of Media, in 600 B.C. The earliest forms of hot tubs were simply a caldera
Caldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
in which sizzling stones had been placed to heat the water.
Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks believed in the therapeutic benefits of hot bath and mineral waters. They even indulged in the practice in bathing in the ocean for medicinal uses. Although largely reserved for the wealthy class, the concept soon came out to the public in the form of public baths whereupon they rapidly became worship centers for resident deities.In Homeric times, bathing was primarily used for cleansing and hygienic purposes. By the time of Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
(460–370 BC), bathing was considered more than a simple hygienic measure; it was healthy and beneficial for most diseases. Hippocrates proposed the hypothesis that the cause of all diseases lay in an imbalance of the bodily fluids. To regain the balance a change of habits and environment was advised, which included bathing, perspiration, walking, and massages. The baths were often combined with gymnastics and education, the precursors of the gymnasium.
Today there are vestiges that still remain of Greek hydrotherapy, The Ancient Spa of Therma in Ikaria: The island of Ikaria has an abundance of the highly therapeutic radio- energized springs. They are regarded as the best in the world. Historically Therma in Ikaria has been a very popular place particularly for hydrotherapy ever since the 4th century BC.
There are basically 3 main therapeutic springs in Therma. The hot springs have curative properties and can heal a variety of illness like rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
, arthrology
Arthrology
Arthrology is the science concerned with the anatomy, function, dysfunction and treatment of joints.The prefix "arthro-" refers to joints, as in arthrogram, arthroscopy, or arthritis, from the Greek ἄρθρον arthron....
, arthritis
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
, neuralgia
Neuralgia
Neuralgia is pain in one or more nerves that occurs without stimulation of pain receptor cells. Neuralgia pain is produced by a change in neurological structure or function rather than by the excitation of pain receptors that causes nociceptive pain. Neuralgia falls into two categories: central...
as well as infertility
Infertility
Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a person to contribute to conception. Infertility may also refer to the state of a woman who is unable to carry a pregnancy to full term...
.
Therma derives its name from the pre-historic town of Thermae
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
. In the past, the residents of Thermae were popularly referred to as “Asclipians” after the name of “Asclipios” who happened to be the god of medicine. There is the"Xalasmena Therma" which is located in close proximity to the Therma town where even today one can see the vestiges of the ancient spa.
In the past, it used to be a seaside town strategically built on a small cape and was one of the most popular spas. The remains of wrecked marble bathtubs along with a pre-historic aqueduct that have been unearthed from this area bear ample testimony of the place’s popularity in the ancient times.
Japan
Distinct spa traditions grew out of different cultures worldwide. In 737 A.D., Japan's first "onsen" (hot spring) opened near IzumoIzumo
Izumo can refer to:* Izumo Province, one of the old provinces of Japan* Izumo, Shimane, a city in former Izumo province* Izumo-taisha, a famous Shinto shrine in Izumo city...
, and centuries later the first "ryokan" (inns) were built, offering fine food, accommodations, Zen gardens, outdoor baths and indoor soaking tubs called cypress ofuro.
Finland
Saunas began appearing along the Baltic in Finland as early as 1000 A.D., inaugurating a rich Finnish spa-going tradition - including a prescription of sauna-induced sweating, icy lake plunges, and plenty of beer or vodka - that continues to this day in a nation that offers one sauna per every two Finns. And of course the Ottomans were famous for their domed and beautifully mosaic hammamHammam
A Turkish bath is the Turkish variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian Bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam....
, the crowning example being the Baths of Roxelana (built in 1556), with its massive towering steam rooms, private washing quarters, and sprawling massage platforms. Typical of hammam throughout the Empire, Roxelana became an important social center, particularly for Muslim women.
When In Rome
Well, unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard of the proverbial “Roman Bath Tub”, basically, a large tub in the newer and more expensive homes. Though, this term is not without its history.Taking the lead from the Greeks, Romans embraced bathing as a regular regiment for health. However, Romans considered the baths more important than the gymnastics alone. Besides cleansing, exercises, socializing, relaxation, and worship, medical treatment was also applied extensively. Now as opposed to the Greeks who used Spas as a practice following intense Gymnastics, the Roman Spas also had a medicinal emphasis and were used largely as recuperation centers for the wounded military soldiers. However, recuperative also included therapeutic centers for the healthy soldiers as well. Water applications to the ailing body were a general practice among the physicians in the ancient world. Spa treatment consisted of application of water to afflicted parts of the body, immersion of the whole body in the water (especially for rheumatic and urogenital diseases), and drinking excessive quantities of water.
In Rome, there were primarily three types of baths. There were baths at home (balnea), private baths (balnea privata), and public baths (balnea publica) that were run by the state. With the advent of the aqueducts, the concept of the “public bath” exploded to glorious edifices (thermae) with a capacity for thousands of people. The consumption of water leaped during this period, from roughly 12 litres to 1400 litres of water per person per day, mainly for bathing. The practice was so engrained that the Roman legions, during their long occupations in foreign lands, built their own baths at mineral and thermal springs in the newly conquered lands. Examples are found all over Europe.
Although as everyone knows, the therapeutic and hygienic practices of the Roman public bath slowly lost ground to the social and gatherings of ill repute as the Roman morality went on the decline in the later years.
The Dark Ages, Indeed
The research on the common views of bathing are conflicting at best during this period. However, with the fall of the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in 476 and the rise of Christianity, it’s widely believed that among the common polulation, the cleanliness regiment went to the wayside, for the Church viewed that the practice of bathing was a prelude to forbidden behavior;
Georges Duby, in an article in A History of Private Life, suggests:
Bathing and grooming were regarded with suspicion by moralists, however, because they unveiled the attractions of the body. Bathing was said to be a prelude to sin, and in the penitential of Burchard of Worms we find a full catalog of the sins that ensued when men and women bathed together... Lambert of ArdresLambert of ArdresLambert of Ardres was a French twelfth century chronicler.He was a parish priest at Ardres, and related to the Counts of Guînes. He wrote for that family a Historia comitum Ghisnensium, between 1194 and 1198. It is mixture of history and folklore...
, the historian of the counts of Guines, describes the young wife of the ancestor of his hero swimming before the eyes of her household in a pond below the castle, but he is careful to indicate that she is wearing a modest white gown. ... [Public baths] were suspect because they were too public; it was better wash one's body in the privacy of one's own home. Scrupulous, highly restrictive precautions were taken in . . . monasteries. At ClunyClunyCluny or Clungy is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. It is 20 km northwest of Mâcon.The town grew up around the Benedictine Cluny Abbey, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910...
the custom required the monks to take a full bath twice a year, at the holidays of renewal, Christmas and Easter; but they were exhorted not to uncover their pudenda.
Bernard Rudofsky, in a speech reprinted in Interior Design, gives a more cheerful picture:
In the Middle Ages, bathing scenes woven into tapestries leave no doubt that bathing was indulged with equal gusto by prince and pauper. In the morning, the opening of the public baths was announced by the sound of trumpets and drums, whereupon the good burghersBourgeoisieIn sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
proceeded to them naked--a precaution against theft. For the stay-at-home a wooden tub was brought to the bed-chamber and filled with hot water. If the chronicles are to be believed, the wealthy had elaborate installations with pipes made of gold and silver, and one Heinrich von Veldecke, an epic poet, sang the praises of a golden tub. In the spring, bathing parties would move to outdoor pools and ornate basins, amid statuary and flowering trees. Dark ages indeed!
The early Irish considered baths a major part of hospitality, and to not offer a guest the opportunity to bathe, or at least wash hands and feet, was an insult. Irish baths were filled with cold water and then heated by dropping rocks, heated in a fire, into the water. There are some suggestions that such heated rocks may have been used to heat saunas.
Bathing in tubs was done in private homes, in monasteries, and in communal bath-houses, which were very common in cities. In the late 13th century, bathhouses in Paris employed criers to announce when the water was hot. In Gasawa Poland, Duke Henryk the Bearded and Duke Leszek Bialy were attacked in the baths in 1227. By the 15th and 16th centuries, bath-houses in Western Europe had mixed clientele, and by the end of our period of study, the 'stews' had the unsavory reputation as houses of ill-repute we remember.
Couple bathing as a prelude to intimacy is depicted in 14th through 16th century illustrations. Legal history
Legal history
Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and is set in the wider context of social history...
suggests that ordinary public bath-houses were often segregated by gender, or different times or days were restricted for each gender. Private bath-rooms in castles, such as the one at Leeds, could often accommodate multiple bathers as well. There are many illustrations depicting groups or individuals (such as Bathsheba
Bathsheba
According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David seduced her....
or Judith) bathing in fountains or spring-pools. It is hard to tell whether these are artistic fantasies, or interpretations of a common practice. [Similar illustrations show such water sources being used to wash clothes and cool wine, among other domestic chores.] Examples of such illustrations can be found in Frank Crisp's Medieval Gardens ( New York, Hacker Art Books, 1966).
Regardless, from the 13th century onwards, baths gradually came into re-use, particularly in southern Europe under the influence of the Moors. Public baths were rebuilt and the entrance was usually free. The baths were often crowded and people bathed for hours, sometimes days in the same bath. Blood letting, enemas, and drinking cures (up to 10 litres a day) were prescribed, although relaxation and pleasure were most often the reasons for bathing.
Renaissance
In the early 16th century the image of the public bath was still on the decline, for they were perceived as sources of contagion, such as syphilisSyphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
, plague, and leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
, and the baths became dangerous meeting places for political and religious dissidents. The economy did not help either, for not only was there a shortage of firewood, but the general upkeep of a public bath was too extensive to be supported in such an economic environment. Nevertheless, the gentry continued to visit the baths, although they preferred to go to baths from natural sources with warm, mineral water instead of the public baths.
However, as with everything in the Renaissance, the tide toward Spas change back to medicinal purposes. Several famous Italian doctors recovered lost texts on medical treatment from the ancient world, and the value of balneology as a therapeutic modality was reconsidered. By this time, the first attempts to analyse the waters for their mineral components were made, although the results were often controversial. It was equally important to recognise the quality of each mineral and its effect on the body, as to know which parts of the body might be influenced by taking the waters.
In 1571, Bacci
Bačci
Baćci is a neighbourhood in the city of Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina.-References:...
published De thermis, in which taking the waters was not a matter of empiricism, but a sound discipline. According to Bacci, essential to the cure was a quiet orderly life in pleasant surroundings with good food and wine, and a maximum of comfort. Therefore, he argued, the baths would do no good to the poor. Other, practical obstacles also restrained the poor from attending the baths: they had no time for leisure and the baths and mud were usually not free.
Minardo published in 1594 a compendium on the two baths of Caldiero
Caldiero
Caldiero is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 15 km east of Verona....
in Verona. The first bath was used for drinking and bathing, the second was used by bathers with skin conditions, for bathing of animals, and for washing off therapeutic mud. Seventy eight conditions that might benefit from these baths were listed. The treatments consisted of drinking cures, bathing, purging, and application of mud. It was advised to follow this type of treatment for 15 days, and repeat it every year.
The new bathing culture that had developed in Italy gradually spread over other parts of Europe, and was particularly popular with the elite. The development of spa treatment north of the Alps and by the turn of the 17th century, many spas were rediscovered in France. Two types of spas existed: hot springs for drinking and bathing, and cold springs for drinking cures only. Taking the waters in French spas was a serious activity and quite sober. Doctors created centers for treatment, not for leisure. Much attention was paid to purging, drinking cures, eating well balanced diets, and bathing. In the afternoons some indoor leisure activities were provided. Late in the afternoon, people walked about on the promenade, and went to bed early in the evening. This was in contrast with many other European countries, where in the evenings diverse leisure activities were offered such as theatre and dance.
19th and 20th Centuries
Around 1800 interest in the bathing began to be in vogue again, and attempts to further analyze the mineral benefits. However, the motivation was largely medicinal again. Doctors were convinced that for each disease there was an appropriate medicinal spring, which could be discovered through chemical analysis of the waters. Two main protagonists of the methodical application of hydrotherapy are Vincent Priessnitz, a peasant farmer in GräfenbergGräfenberg
Gräfenberg may mean:* Gräfenberg, a city in Franconia, Germany* Lázně Jeseník , administrative part of city Jeseník, Czech Republic** Gräfenberg Spa, a spa founded by Vincent Priessnitz in Lázně Jeseník- Family names :...
, a German speaking town that is now part of the Czech Republic, who, in around 1829, revived it, popularizing it once more and Fr. Sebastian Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp was a Bavarian priest and one of the founders of the Naturopathic medicine movement...
, a Bavarian priest, further developed the principles of balneotherapy
Balneotherapy
Balneotherapy is the treatment of disease by bathing, usually practiced at spas. While it is considered distinct from hydrotherapy, there are some overlaps in practice and in underlying principles. Balneotherapy may involve hot or cold water, massage through moving water, relaxation or stimulation...
(medicinal use of thermal water) and hydrotherapy (immersion of the body in thermal water for therapeutic purposes). Individual treatments were prescribed, based on the composition and temperature of the water. Also, combinations of treatments were developed consisting of hot and cold baths, herbal baths, mud packs, active physical exercises, massages, and diets. Kneipp advocated a holistic approach to the treatment of a disease. In contrast with the spa resorts, which aimed at the elite, Kneipp directed his attentions to the common man.
Throughout Europe and the Americas the public Spas were on the rise. They were integral parts of the gentile life. Every spa resort had its own theater, casino, and promenades besides the bathing buildings. In Germany, Austria, and Belgium much importance was attached to ostentation. Grand hotels arose with casinos and dancing establishments surrounding the spa resorts. The spa resorts became not only a meeting center for the elite but also a place of creativity for painters, writers, and composers. The baths were again crowded. Baden Baden (Germany) became the most glamorous resort in continental Europe. It was the place to see and to be seen.”
However, in Britain use of the spa declined. The English spa resorts were run by amateurs, and the medical hydrology was poorly organized. The resorts aimed more at pleasure, rather than medical treatment, and were exploited by estate developers with commercial interests. Competition from seaside and foreign resorts, and an economic depression in the 1930s led to a further decline. Eventually, spa therapy was excluded from the National Health Service, which meant that many spa resorts in Britain closed down.
The American Experience
The 1940s the first home hot tubs began to appear, mostly in California, USA. Inspired by the Japanese ofuro, these early prototypes were still made from used oak barrels, wine tanks and olive vats from nearby wineries. Redwood hot tubs then began to appear, but often leaked and were difficult to keep clean. These tubs lacked effervescence and bubbles. By 1965, free sprits, “hippies” began flooding the coast of California with little money, and lots of free time on their hands and they started the proliferation of wooden hot tubs. Most of these tubs were homemade with smoke-belching wood fired heaters. Water circulation, filtration, and sanitation were a little hit and miss.1950s
In 1956, an idea was born. Why not treat a family member's arthritis symptoms with a hydrotherapy pump. The Jacuzzi brothers invented a pump and a small niche business was born. The J-300, a portable pump, was sold to hospitals and schools.1960s
This innovative spirit was captured by Roy JacuzziRoy Jacuzzi
Roy Jacuzzi was a third generation Italian immigrant to the United States of America. In 1968 he helped market the first self-contained, fully integrated Jacuzzi whirlpool bath. First generation Jacuzzi family member, Candido Jacuzzi was the inventor of the original portable, in-home Jacuzzi...
, a third-generation family member who had begun learning the business as a teenager. Sensing the American consumer's interest in health, fitness and leisure activities, Roy invented and marketed the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath in 1968. By incorporating jets into the sides of the tub, it became the bath that almost single-handedly created an industry.
1970s
When the shortcomings of wooden hot tubs became apparent, fiberglassFiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
shell hot tubs began to appear on the market around 1970. The gel-coat fiberglass construction had its own drawbacks, and was soon replaced by cast acrylic shells and, for the first time, it was easy for the owner to achieve water cleanliness. Manufacturers installed pumps, filters, control systems and, of course, jets, although the first hot tubs had very few of them.
As larger units were designed to accommodate several people, Jacuzzi incorporated heating and filtration systems to keep the water warm and clean, thus creating the first spa in 1970. In 1979, the family sold to New York-based Kidde Inc. All the family members left the business or retired, except for Roy, who stayed on to run the Jacuzzi operations.