Isn't the older bathtub, around the early 20th century, the white claw foot tub? My dad's house was built in the late 1800s or so and still has that claw footed tub.
Laura
Does anyone know what kind of bathtubs were used during each of the historical dolls eras?
I finally ordered the bathtub, even though it is backordered, because that is an item I do NOT want to miss. I'm going to do what I've planned all along - I'll paint it white with gold trim. Even though I can't change the style, I can at least change the color.
After the tub is painted, I'm going to make some real bath accessories. Such as cutting a bar of soap so it is doll size and putting shampoo in a tiny bottle and making a little towel and washcloth and ducky. I'm going to put all the bath items in a little basket to keep beside the tub.
It would be great to find out more about vintage bathtubs though. I'd like to fix the tub so Kit or Samantha or Nellie can use it, along with any vintage bathing items. I'm not sure what those would be though. Does anyone have a good source for vintage bath items? With photos?
Julia
Isn't the older bathtub, around the early 20th century, the white claw foot tub? My dad's house was built in the late 1800s or so and still has that claw footed tub.
Laura
Check your library for a copy of the video program 1900 House. It has bathroom scenes in there where you could probably get a really good idea of what they used. I don't know exactly how Samantha's life would have compared to a middle class English family's but it is from the same time period so maybe it would give you a good idea.
do a google search for: victorian plumbing supply. You'll find a lot. When we remodled our 1905 bathroom, I had to get various reproduction replacement parts to fix our tub and sink. I was able to find everything we needed on the internet. There ate lots of pictures of refinished and reproduction bathroom fixtures.
My house was built in 1935 and the bathroom is EXACTLY like it was back when the hosue was built. There have been no updates made to he room whatsoever with the exception to some hardware and the vanity.
The tub is exactly like what you would see in a modern bathroom.
Lara
In Kirsten's time, a bathtub would have been a metal type tub filled with hot water heated on the stove and poured in. The Little House books are excellent resources on pioneer life. In Felicity's time, many colonists didn't believe in full body bathing. They thought it was unhealthy and caused illness. Kaya's people bathed in the river every morning, every day, even in winter! I assume Addy would have had some sort of wash tub like Kirsten.
Our house was built in 1909 and has the original, classic clawfoot tub in the second floor bathroom. I could try to take pictures of it tomorrow if you want, but it could be hard to get it all in: it is soooooo big! Sometimes I get a little freaked out about how much it must weigh, especially when there is water in it! Here are two websites I found helpful when we were getting this tub back to its old glory:
www.clawfootsupply.com
www.vintagetub.com
Good Luck: I can't wait to see pictures!
Shawn
That is absolutely correct about Felicity's tub. Her wash pitcher and basin was IT, literally. There is a picture of an 1840's tin bathtub in the album I did when Kit was visiting back in the summer. Kit is actually in it so you can get an idea of the size. It still has some of the original blue paint on it!
Most people in the 17 and 1800's believed that bathing washed away the natural defenses to germs. In the summer they would have bathed about once a week, and in the winter about once a month. This is part of the reason why vintage clothing from before the Civil War (with the exception of the dresses worn by the women in Napoleon's court) are soooooooooo hard to find in good shape. The dying process for fabric at the time coupled with a lack of bathing really destroyed clothing.
French people bathed a lot more often than Americans did up until the turn of the century. Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt and the Middle East brought back a lot more than just clothing styles, they also brought back slightly better hygiene practices.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes Pilgrims and Puritans and other New England folk didn't do full body bathing AT ALL! It was considered "unhealthy"! Plus it was far too difficult to haul water from the nearest spring/river/water source and heat it when there were other things to be done to survive.Originally posted by Grapedy1982:
Most people in the 17 and 1800's believed that bathing washed away the natural defenses to germs. In the summer they would have bathed about once a week, and in the winter about once a month.
Can you imagine trying to get Felicity to take a bath? My guess is she wouldn't sit still long enough nor would she enjoy being scrubbed clean [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Julia, you can find miniture Shampoo bottles w/ shampoo in them at you Walmart or KMart. At my nearest K-Mart they have:
Head & Shoulders Regular
Head & Shoulders Lemony
Suave Regular
Suave Conditioner
Pert
Pert conditioner
& another Shampoo&Conditioner I can't remember. They were 99 cents apeice. They looked exactly like the big bottles.
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