Can you believe that the first clawfoot tub was made from a horse trough? The designer of the day put some “feet” on the trough and took a bath in it! “In 1883, an American man named John Michael Kohler invented the world’s first bathtub. He added four decorative feet to the bottom of an enamel-covered, cast-iron horse trough and advertised his creation in the center of the Kohler Company’s one-page catalog.”
It is hard let your mind go back to a time when people bathed only occasionally. I mean I know people who shower and or bathe twice a day, every day. Sometimes more in hot weather. Air conditioning didn’t come along for another 19 years! Everyone had to be a bit smelly nearly all the time.
Modern Tubs
Bathtubs have come along way since they were first added to the Kohler Co. one-page catalong.
In an effort to modernize the bathtub, the clawfeet were removed so the tub sat directly onto the floor. “Near the end of the 20th century, the clawfoot tub emerged into a built-in style of bathtub with a small apron front. ”
Always In Style
An awesome thing about the passage of tme is that old always becomes new again. Lots of fashion and designs re-emerge after time because, frankly there are only so many ways the same item can be re-birthed. Some people quickly dragged out their cast iron clawfoot tub when something new came around. Sometimes you can find one of these gems in a pasture being used as a……..you guessed it………a water trough! If you see one out in the country make an offer to the land owner and you may get it for cheap. They are heavy so often times people don’t want to mess with them.
Old Fashioned Clawfoot Tub
I have found that when people imagine an old fashioned tub, or grandma’s tub, the image is of a rolled rim tub. The rolled rim clawfoot tub has a sloped back where the bather reclines and rests their head, while the other end is more straight down. In later years, the tubs were made with faucet holes and overflow holes. Typically, the faucet will sit on the rim of the tub over the drain hole with is located in the bottom of the tub at the straighter end.
If there are no faucet holes, no worries, just place the tub next to the wall where the faucet has been installed.
New Is Better
Cast iron clawfoot tubs are made of higher quality materials today and the process is more streamlined and automated. The finish on today’s tubs are coated with procelain. The porcelain coating makes the finish very smooth and almost silky. You can get the exact same look as the antique tubs, but better because there are more designs than the original rolled rim. Clawfoot tubs are also now made with lighter weight acrylic so there is no reason for you to deny yourself the pleasure of a clawfoot Tub. Slipper tubs sweep up higher on the ends and tubs are longer, wider and deeper than they used to be. Each one is a masterpiece.
You will never regret your decision to purchase a new clawfoot tub. There is a certain glamour that you will never get with a different tub. You will love the quality of our Clawfoot Tubs. There are customer support agents waiting to help you at 877.795.5684.
Portions of this blog post are found in their original source: Who Invented The First Bathtub? and Bathtub.
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