Tl;dr:
Bathtubs started small due to size constraints of rooms, but got smaller because it’s cheaper to manufacture and handle smaller tubs.
#savedyouaclick
I bought a foldable bathtub some time ago and it is SO MUCH better than what I was used to
You have to kinda sit in it but it means that you can submerge your whole body without your legs constantly floating up. It fits in my shower and can be stored away when I don’t use it
I may or may not have searched for this whole trying to take a bath
just after World War II, Crane—a major producer of bathtubs—reported that 75 percent of their business was in 5-foot tubs, as smaller tubs are cheaper and therefore more appealing to landlords.
Ooh I can blame the landlords?
It makes a ton of sense to make them as small as possible, given how much water it takes to fill them up. Unlike in Japan, we hardly use that water, while they leave them filled and keep using it.
Imagine always filling a pool just because you want to refresh for 30 minutes and then dumping all that water.
Japanese home baths are almost always right next to a shower, and you take a shower before getting in the bathtub to soak. Because you’re clean before using the tub, a family will leave it full until everyone has had a bath. They still empty the tub after everyone has used it though-- it’s not like they keep the same water for days on end.
It’s a similar concept at bathhouses, where everyone gets in the same baths after showering.
Woah we used to do that when I was a kid, my dad would bathe after me. I thought we were just poor but now I guess we were just Japanese
I thought taking shower before bath was universal thing. Who are these nasty people that bathe in their own filth?
I remember staying at this wonderful couple’s BnB in Northern Michigan and they had a claw-foot standing bathtub, that thing was incredible. So spacious
