eating and drinking, bathing, ftddling, dancing, and 

 reveling. Gaming was carried to a great excess and 

 horse-racing was a daily amusement." 



The more permanent bath houses found at the 

 hicreasing number of springs in the early 19ih 

 century were really only shanties built where the 

 water bubbled up. Nevertheless, as civilization moved 

 in upon these resorts, the current taboos and mores 

 were soon imposed. These gave rise to customs, 

 facilities, and inventions peculiar to the pastime. 

 The more permanent facilities carefully separated 

 men from women. Frequently the women's bath 

 was located a considerable distance from the men's 

 and surrounded by a high fence. Female attendants 

 were at hand to wait upon the ladies, and private 

 rooms were prepared for their use both before and 

 after bathing. 



In the early 19th century the fame of Berkeley 

 Springs was eclipsed temporarily by the growing 

 popularity of other springs, such as Saratoga in ilie 

 north and White Stilphur Springs in the south. The 

 newest facilities, however, and the completion of 

 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, restored Berkeley 

 to its former prosperity in the early 1850s. 



The bath houses at Berkeley .Springs in the 1850s 

 are an example of the facilities that were considered 

 convenient, extensive, and elegant during this period. 

 The gentlemen's bath house contained fourteen 

 dressing rooms and ten large bathing rooms. In 

 addition to the plimge baths, which were twehe 

 feet long, five feet wide, and four and a half feet deep, 

 the men had a swimming bath that was sixty feet 

 long, twenty feet wide, and five feet deep. The 

 ladies' and men's bath houses were located on 

 opposite sides of the grove. As if this were not reas- 

 suring enough, we are told that the building for 

 the weaker sex was surrounded by several acres of 

 trees. Thus protected, feminine bathers could choose 

 either one of the nine private baths or the phmge 

 bath, which was thirty feet long by sixteen feet 

 wide and four and a half feet deep, as well as use 

 a shower or artificial warm baths. '- 



The differences between the two bath houses show- 

 that women were not as active in the water as the 

 men. Judging from the kind of facilities that were 

 provided at Berkeley Springs, the ladies did less 

 '■phuiging" than the men and no swimming. 



Although accepted in England, bathing in salt 

 water did not become popular in the new world 

 iHitil some lime after bathing at springs was established. 



In 1794 a Mr. Bailey announced that he planned 

 to institute "bathing machines and several species of 

 entertainment" at his resort on Long Island.''' "A 

 machine of peculiar constrtiction for bathing in the 

 open sea" was advertised a few years later by a hotel 

 proprietor at Nahant, Massachusetts.'* There is some 

 question as to what the term "bathing machine" 

 describes. Existing records show that W. Merritt of 

 New York City received a patent dated February 1, 

 1814, for a "bathing machine." Unfortunately neither 

 a description nor a drawing can be found today. 

 European patents from the first half of the 19th 

 century reveal that a bathing machine could be a 

 contraption in which an individual bathed in privacy. 

 This is what the above quotations seem to be describ- 

 ing. In general usage, however, "bathing machine" 

 cotdd also have been a device in which an individual 

 removed his clothing to prepare for bathing; this 

 type will be described later. 



By the early !9th century floating baths were 

 established in every city of any importance including 

 Boston, Salem, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, 

 Washington, Richmond, Charleston, and Savannah. 

 One bath located at the foot of Jay Street in New 

 York City was described as follows: 



Tlie building is an octagon of seventy feet in diameter, 

 with a plank floor supported by logs so as to sink the 

 center bath four feet belo\\- the surface of the water, but 

 in the private baths the water may be reduced to three or 

 even two feet so as to be perfectly safe for children. It is 

 placed in the current so always to be supplied with ocean 

 and pure water and rises and falls with the tide.'^ 



As was true at the springs, men and women were 

 segregated; but in the floating baths ihey were only- 

 separated by being in different compartments rather 

 than in different bath houses. 



Although there were a number of these baths there 

 were not enough to cover all of the inviting ri\ er banks 

 and sea shores. There are manv instances of men en- 



" John J. Moorman, The Virginia Springs (Richmond: J. W . 

 Randolph, 1854), pp. 259-260. 

 12 Ibid., p. 264. 



13 Henry VVansay, .-In Excursion to the United Stales (Salisbury : 

 J. Easton, 1798), p. 211, as quoted in Dulles, America Learns 

 to Plar, p. 152. 



n Fred .\llan Wilson, Some Annals of Nahant (Boston: Old 

 Corner Book Store, 1928), p. 77, as quoted in Dulles. 

 America Learns to Plav, p. 152. 



15 Hew York Evening Post (June 4, 1813). 



p.APER 64: women's b.\thing .and swimming costume in the united states 



