1849 - 1860 Sitz Bath
date: label: date made
content: 1840 - 1860
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: The hip bathtub is similar to the sitz bath and the terms are often used interchangeably. In 1859 Bell notes that the “ . . . hip bath has of late acquired vogue, as part of the water cure, and by some superficial readers, it is looked upon as a novelty.”* Bell may be suggesting that people are now actually enjoying the amenities of the bath, rather than viewing it as merely healthful.
label: Description
content: Warm or tepid hip baths were encouraged for the elderly. Their skin was protected from the heat of the tin by “linen damask, thick bird’s eye diaper, or white huckaback” towels that lined the interior of the tub. In her 1845 <I>Manual on Domestic Economy</I>, Eliza Leslie frowned on cotton towels, which “are not used by persons of genteel habits.”** Bathing experts recommended vigorous toweling after the bath to promote blood circulation and to remove dry skin.
label: Description
content: Though this tub is a cream color, many tinware catalogs advertised hip baths in brown or green with a marbled interior.
label: Description
content: For more information on bathing and bathtubs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, please see the introduction to this online exhibition.
label: Description
content: *John Bell, <I>A Treatise on Baths</I>, (Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston, 1859): 207.
label: Description
content: **Eliza Leslie, <I>The House Book</I>; or, <I>A Manual of Domestic Economy. For Town and Country</I>, (Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1845), 302.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: World
topic: label: used
content: Bathing
label: referenced
content: Portable Bathtubs
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: Bathtubs
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content: Family & Social Life
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Kenneth E. Jewett
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.238049.0097
label: catalog number
content: 238049.0097
label: catalog number
content: 238049.0097
label: accession number
content: 238049
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Tub, Bath
label: Object Name
content: tub, bath
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 28 5/8 in x 29 3/8 in x 24 in; 72.7075 cm x 74.6125 cm x 60.96 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 28 in x 29 in x 28 1/4 in; 71.12 cm x 73.66 cm x 71.755 cm