Here is what awaited you in Nashville probably in the 1860-1890 period (there is no date on this, according to Duke University, link below). There were plenty of vapor baths in American cities - one of my Barnett several-great aunts had a dear friend whose husband, Professor Balbo, ran vapor baths in Brooklyn. In Balbo's ad they are called "volcanic baths" (!) but in the city directories he is listed as running vapor baths.What is most remarkable here is the picture of the man in the bath. He looks so dignified, and yet so silly. I always like that combination in a Victorian ad!
This Hygienic Hot Air and Vapor Bath was made out of canvas and "c[ould] be folded into a very small bundle." It could probably also double as camping equipment, although you'd have to sleep sitting up with your head out in the open.
The vapor bath reminded me of the I Love Lucy episode The Diet (first aired October 29, 1951). Lucy wants to perform at Ricky's nightclub, but in order to do so she has to fit into a premade costume. She needs to lose weight fast, and does various things, including renting a portable steam bath. Of course after sitting in the steamer all day, she ends up being too weak to dance more than one night.
This Victorian vapor bath was supposed to cure obesity, among other things, according to the information inside the pamphlet. The item that looks like a chamber pot is actually a heater; it looks like a fire hazard, even though one is assured that "the flames are steady." Flames and canvas just aren't a good combination, no matter how medicinal the outcome.
This amazing advertisement is from Duke University's Emergence of Advertising in America. It was part of a pamphlet, which they have digitized in full (three pages).
Malcolm Shifrin has a website devoted to the Victorian Turkish Bath, see here. And Synctopia has a vapor bath ad very similar to this one, here; this vapor bath was made in New York City, though.
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The post about the strange tombstone at Greenwood will appear early next week. I thought that it would be fairly straightforward to write but hunting down the family in question has been difficult. And there are a few more sources I want to check over the weekend. So we'll carry on with other things in the meantime.
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Thank you so much Heather for the Seal of Awesomeness and the Lemonade awards!
10 comments:
You are right. Flames and canvas are not a recommended combination.
Now let's add oxygen and/or alcohol to the equation and see what we get.
Wow, that's one weird invention. But it was the Greatest Success of Modern Times, so it must be good.
there is a strange look contraption. =/
Bill - As long as we stand very far back from that thing.
Daisy - They might be exaggerating a tiny bit. I think they might be.
Sandi - It is indeed, my eyes were very surprised when I came across it. That's how i know I want to write about something, sometimes! :)
Remarkable, Lidian! In an era when house fires and theatre fires [such as the disastrous Brooklyn Theatre fire on Washington Street, Brooklyn, NY] regularly made front-page headlines, this looks like an example of self-inflicted death by arson.
The only thing more daunting to have near your bathtub would be Charlotte Corday!
OK, I know when to sneak out the rear window. . . .
:-D
Come up and see Mae . . .
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LIDIAN writes: "The item that looks like a chamber pot is actually a heater; it looks like a fire hazard, even though one is assured that "the flames are steady." Flames and canvas just aren't a good combination, no matter how medicinal the outcome. . . ."
"Relieves internal organs" ??
Somehow I think my gallbladder will thank me for not indulging in The Portable Vapor Bath!
Congrats on the awards! :)
Um...that guy looks a little bit naked to me. All the more reason for him not to be sitting there. But that's just me.
Thank you for this fine post. A long-felt want was supplied as I read it. As I stared and stared at the naked gentleman, the strange tattoo on his lower person suddenly transformed into an artist's depiction of vapors. That part was especially edifying and took my mind off the chamber pot that allegedly held fire of a steady flame. All of my questions were answered, save how heat and vapors could be contained with such a large hole in the side.
There must be small print saying "Chamber pot not supplied". How would you get it into that flat-pack? A collapsible chamber pot?
Mae - Yes, it was only after really reading the breathlessly-enthusiastic pamphlet (and they always are, aren't they, Mae?)that I thought, wow, that is no going to be very safe!
Jayne - My internal organs will be thanking me for NOT using it!
THe SnackHound - I believe he is - being both racy and therapeutically-minded all at once. This appealed to the VIctorians, I suppose.
Max - That hole in the side is the fatal flaw of this contraption. You ought to have a prize for spotting it, but all I have to hand are notecards and Bic pens...
A. - An excellent point - maybe you had to buy it separately, just like in a modern ad. "Chamber pot not included!"
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