For eons people have used stone, brick, or wooden tubs to bathe in, in or around the home.
But two men significantly affected the bathtub as we know it today.
John Kohler, a foundry owner in Wisconsin in the late 1800s, developed an enameled iron watering trough for animals.
When indoor plumbing became popular, he attached his trough to four cast-iron feet and began selling it as a bathtub for the house in 1883.
These bathtubs were sold by the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company and Kohler Company.
A few years later David Buick, the very same man who began the car company, became the father of the modem bathtub.
Before he delved into the world of automobiles, he manufactured plumbing fixtures in Detroit.
He patented a method of affixing porcelain to an iron surface, the same method used for bathtubs today.
Related Posts
-
How Old Is the Bathtub?
In very ancient times, people bathed right in the nearest river or lake. But when cities began to grow, it was no longer possible for everyone to bathe in the same river. So,…
-
Why do my fingers and toes wrinkle when I soak them in the bathtub for too long?
Actually, your fingers and toes aren't wrinkling at all but puckering from swelling. The thick outside layer of skin, called the stratum corneum, takes on excess water when saturated—sort of like when dried…
-
What is the story of Archimedes’ inspiration in the bathtub when he yelled Eureka?
Better yet, we can give you an account from the first century B.C., written by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect, engineer, and writer: In the case of Archimedes, although he made many…
-
Why Does Water Draining From a Bathtub Swirl and Rotate Counter-Clockwise In the Northern Hemisphere?
It is a common belief that the direction of rotation of a bathtub or toilet vortex is determined by the hemisphere it occurs on. Theoretically, water draining from a bathtub is affected by…
-
Why Did Archimedes Run Through the Streets of Syracuse Naked Yelling “Eureka!” When His Bathtub Overflowed?
Legend has it that Archimedes once ran through the streets of Syracuse naked yelling, "Eureka!" because he had discovered an amazing scientific principle. King Hiero had given a craftsman a certain amount of…
-
When Was the Modern Lock Invented?
Locks have been around for thousands of years, but the kind of lock we use today is less than 200 years old. In 1817, the British government offered a prize to anyone who…
