Plenty of strange things have happened inside the almighty bathtub and history is full of both disturbing and chuckle-worthy bathtub stories.
Did you know that the first bathtub installed in the United States was in Cincinnati, 1842? It was made of mahogany and lined with sheet lead.
In Philadelphia, 1843, it was against the law to take a bath between November 1 and March 15.
In Boston, 1845, people were not allowed to take a bath unless it was prescribed by a doctor.
In that same year, Virginia had a bathtub tax. Anyone with a bathtub in their home had to pay $30 a year.
1. We All Know What She was Doing
I cannot think of a more embarrassing way to die. And then to have your name and manner of death published in a newspaper? My ghostly spirit would shrink to the size of a peanut from the public humility.
Published in 1915, Chicago:
“Mrs. Eleanor Lakens, 7437 Eggleston Ave., died while in a bathtub, massaging with an electric machine. Verdict stated water became charged with electric current.” [1]
2. Parboiled
Baths used in the insane asylums during the early 20th century were supposed to calm patients, not cook them.
In one gruesome incident reported in 1915, a patient at an asylum in Chicago was secured into a bathtub with a tarp to prevent her from escaping. The nurses drew the water, but apparently did not pay any attention to the temperature of the water.
For three minutes the patient screamed in agony before one of the nurses decided to check the water’s temperature. The steaming hot water had partly cooked the patient who died immediately afterwards.
The nurses, however, were not held at fault. Instead, a broken valve was blamed. [2]
3. Bathtub Fear
Some people had a genuine fear of getting in and out of the bathtub because that is when most accidents occur.
In 1906, one woman gave reason for her bathtub fears:
“I know a good many people are afraid of a bathtub, but not in the way that I am. I am not afraid of the water after I am in the tub. It’s getting in and out I am afraid of, though water in a bathtub has been deadly, too, to some. I knew of a man once who was drowned in his bathtub. Many a man has drowned in his bathtub, but I know the widow of this one, and that was what brought it home to me. Whenever they introduced her they whispered, ‘Her husband was drowned in a bathtub.’
“It seemed to me a sort of disgrace to her, that way of dying.” [3]
4. Used as Aquariums
In 1909 it was reported that thousands of New Yorkers had never seen a bathtub and did not know what it was for.
One real estate dealer built an apartment building in NYC and had enameled bathtubs installed in each apartment. The apartments were rented out.
After some time had passed, the owner visited the apartments of some of his renters and was in for quite a surprise:
“Not one of the bathtubs was being used for the purpose for which it was intended. In several of the suites the tubs had been turned into aquariums. Rocks and seaweed had been put into them to make them attractive. Little gold fishes darted in and out among the crags, and china swans floated on the surface of the water. In some of the suites the tubs were used to hold coal and ashes, and one tenant had removed his tub to mix mortar in it.” [4]
5. The Only Bathtub in Town
Center, Nebraska had only one bathtub in the town back in 1906, and it was stationed inside the Saunders hotel.
One day, the hotel owner announced a ladies’ bath day and decided to allow the town’s 27 women to take baths in alphabetical order.
However, this was not going to work for the wife of the banker whose last name came after the wife of the blacksmith.
On the day of the bath, the banker’s wife showed up, went to the front of the line, and took her bath first. This, of course, upset all the other women and the issue soon had to be resolved by the town’s council. [5]
