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BATHS
AE 685
WINTER 76
TIED BESSETTE
CONTEN~TS
SLIDE LECTURE
SLIDE LIST
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICIES
BATHHOUSES AT WHITE SPRINGS. FLORIDA
article by Mary Nell Reeves
BATHHOUSES AT WHITE SPRINGS, FLORIDA
article by Russ Taylor
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
SLIDES IN TRAY
BATHS
Throughout history baths have had many different
meanings and purposes. Three major purposes, discernible
at an early stage of history, remain today. These are
general well-being, ceremonial purification, and
clenlieness.
The earliest bathe known to man are the public
baths of Miohenjo-Daro, in the Indus Valley, and the
palace baths at Knossos, on Crete.
2 Mohenjo-Daro is estimated to be about 5,000
years old. Its public bath was about 24 by 40 feet
(7.3 by 12.2 meters). Built bcy a highly civiliead
people it included an elaborate drainage system with
horizontal drains of brick, and terra cotta pipes
fitted with spigot and faucet joints protected within
the walls.
3 The Minoan palace at Knossos included a sophis-
ticated drainage plan with Bathrooms, foot baths,
and tubs, betleived to date from between 2000 and 1800
B.C. The slide shows a modern looking bathtub (dating
from between 2000 and 1800 B.C.) found in the queens
apartments.
re Giedion, in Mechanization Takes Command, traces
the itinerary of the Regeneration Type Baths:
44t4. Itineralry of the Regieneration Types. In this map we
havle tentatlively traced thle path of the different types of regenera-
lion. From Central Asia the archetype aopor or hot-air bath -
spread in ancient times to Russia, Syria, thle Greek world. This
type wcas p~rroalyh~ frst elaborated technically in the Nile Della
durring the Ptolemair Perriodi. In the first cei~tury B.c. the Romanr
Thermrae, a crossing ofl archetype with the Greek gymnasiuml,
spread w~ith the expanding Empire. It waas in ~Syria, in the third
celturrv A.D., that the Roman Thermae -marching east-mel
the archetype and were transformed into what later became the
Islamic bath, a type that persisted until the influx of mneekaimia-
tion. (Rf. Ecochard and 4~ Gedion)
5 The Winter Sun Bath of the Forum Thermae, Ostia,
is an example of the Roman Thermae of the 1st to 5th
century. The broad openings were filled with glass
panes, behind which the sun bath was taken as part
of the elaborate Roman bath procedure.
6 The Steam Room, attHa~mma of Kalaour, Cairo, is
an example of an Islamic bath of the 18th century
A.D. The Islamic bather prefers quiescence, seclusion,
and the dim light that is here obtained by meansr of
honeycomb vaults. The Islamic bath also included
7 other spaces such as a Rest Hall where the Islamic
regeneration begins and ends and a Hot-Air Room
where massages are administered on a polygonal divan
in the center of the room.
Other examples of early baths include:
8 The Bath of Dura Europos; the Bath of Brad; the Bath
9 of Kusair' Amra; the Bath El Harjib, the Bath House
10,11 at Caervuent, a Russian Bath of 1812, a Late Gothic
12 Steamn Bath of th Fifteenth Century; a Moorish Bath
13 of 1858; and "ghe Hellenistic Gymnasium at Priene.
Bathing was part of a restorative process tor
the ancient G~reeks and was also closely tied to the
gymnasium, the educatibonal center of the Hellenes.
In the 5jth century B.C., publiio baths were constructed
in Athens. They rapidly became popular and were an
important pasting place for Athenian society. Early
Greek public baths contained cold water pools and
showers for use after athletic events but later warm
baths were introduced although they were still taken
after a cold bath.
Rome had baths from the end of the 4th century
B.C., but only cold water was used. As the Empire
grew, public taste demanded more and more luxury,
By the 4th century A.D. there were nearly a thousand
baths of various sizes at Rome anrd many others were
14 found in the provinces. The Stabian baths at Pompeii
15 are one of the oldest Roman baths extant. They were
16
17 origionaly built in the 2nd century B.C. The Forum
18 Baths at Pompeii are also very extensive and another
19
20 fine example of the importance the culture placed on
21
22 the baths.
23 The Romtans constructed a great public bath in
the 1st century A.D. around the Aquee Sulis, the
24 mineral springs in Britian, from which the present
city of Bath took its name. Today, hot water from
the mineral springs still runs through a Roman conduit
about 2,000 years old.
The steps involved in the Roman bathing procedure
have been determined, although the order in which
these steps were taken is atn~olear. It is thought that
the bather first exerciarbd and then disrobed. Anointed
with oil, he passed through the topidarium (warm room),
the caldarium (hot room), andi the laconicum (steam
room), the most intense of the sweating stages.
Sweat and oil were pressed from the body with a strigil,
a grooved metal scraper that had been introduced by
the Greeks. The bather may then have entered the
frigidarium (cold bath). Finally, the bather anointed
himself with oil again, and the bathing process was
complete.
The social model for the baths was derived from
Greek practice, but Roman love of luxury in the days
of the empire required the inclusion of gardens, a
satdium, shops, and exedrae, (open courtyards for
poetry readings or lectures). In time, however, the
exedrae lost their select character as the baths
became a pleasure available to many. The initial
pur pose of bathing to develop a sound mind in a
healthy body was subordinated as the baths became
more and more great social centers.
The baths of Caracalla and Diocletian were of
colossal dimensions, and their extensive ruins are
25
26 among the most famous. The Baths of Caracalla covered
27
28 an area of nearly 28 acres and had a capacity of 1,600
29
30 bathers. Sculpture found in these baths indicate the
31
richness of the furnishings. Operas are now performed
34 in the well-preserved remains of Caracalla. The Bathe
35 of Diocletian are thought to have been .twice the size
of Caracalla, accommodating some 3,200 bathers, with
36 a swimming bath about 290 feet (88.4 meters) long and
a theatre. The tepedarium of these baths was reconst-
37 ructed by Michelangelo to form the church of Santa
Maria degli AngelL. The Romans developed a system of
38 buttressing, cross-vaulting on interior columnus,, and
galleried windows, to provide roofs, ventilation, and
light for enormous rooms. These architectural feats
inspired later builders. The old Pennsylvania Railroad
Station in New York, torn down in the 1960's, was
modeled after the Baths of Caracalla.
From the many references to baths and bathing
in the works of such Roman historians as Seneca and
Pliny the Younger, it is known that men and woman
bathed separately, at different times or in different
establishments. The practice of mixed bathing developed
later and was condemned by the Roman emperors Hadriatn
and Marcus Aurelius, and in the Eastern Roman empire
by Justinian I, the lawgiver. This probably lost them
a lot of votes in the next election.
And then there were the problem groups. The
early Christian church did not evolve any crode regarding
cleanliness. In this, Christianity was almost unique
among the great religions of the world. Baths were
used by Christians in the days of the Roman empire,
but with certain limitations: Christians were forbidden
to bathe with Jews and, in some cases, with the excom-
municated. The Great Roman baths, however, encouraged
practices repugnant to Christian thought. Perfumes
and cosmetics, regularly sold in the Roman baths, were
regarded as symbols of moral decay. Early Christians
who had suffered persecution condemned the extravagence
of the thermae. Like the Semites, Christians abhorred
the nudity common to the Graeco-Roman tradition.
To some extant the problem for the Christians
was solved by barbarian invasion, which left Roman
aqueducts and the principal baths unusable, Meanwhile,
a cult of asceticism arose among Christians to coun-
teract the cult of well-being. Some Christians regarded
being dirty as a suitable means of mortifying the
flesh and a proper penance for sin. This attitude
persisted into the Middle Ages. In the 11th century
it was considered a creditable act of renunciation
that Adalbert;, archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen,
abstained from bathing. Asceticism was carried to
such extremes in certain areas that church leaders
were forced to rebuke those preachers who forbade
bathing altogether. A more moderate Christian visew
seems to have prevailed later in the Middle Ages.
Batchs again became important when clenlinessr
for the masses became necessary to prevent the
spread of disease in densky populated areas. Large-
scale efforts to deal with the problem of cleanliness
were made in Britian, Germany, and America from the
mid-19th century onward. A public baths and wash houses
act was passed in 1846 in England, and other measures
followed. The British became pioneers in plumbing.
The same industrial conditions that had produced slums
and disease proved capable of providing physical
remedies. Public and private groups began to build
public bathhouses for those without private facilities.
These bath houses were set up on Western models,
distinct from the classical and Turkish forms. They
weredesigned simply as places where people could gaFet
clean, and initially they consisted of individual
bathrooms with plumbing oonnfs2elat from a central
place. Shower baths and swimming pools were added
as athletic activities increased.
More elaborate establishments, built on the Roman
model, were constructed around mineral springs. Med-
icinal baths at mineral springs have exi~sted in
nearly all countries since Roman times.S,~ome of
the best known are at Baden- B~aden, Germany; Ca'rlsbad
(Karlory Vary), Chechboslovcakia; Vichy and Aix-les-B3ains,
France; Bath and Harrogate, England; and Spa, Belgium.
In addition,thhere are many medicinal baths in the
Far East, especially in Japan, where bathing, often
associated with massage, has always been popular.
.Baths in the United Stated fell into three
major types. These are baths to deal with the problem
of personal 01enlinzess in high density lower class
housing areas, medical baths based on a belief that
mineral springs are capable of providing physical
remedies, and recreational places, often as a part
ol a resort hotel.
Early European colonists took their attitudes
on bathing to America. The old laws of Pennsylvania,
Virginia, and Ohio give examples of legislative attem-
pts to restrict or forbid bathing. But with a rapidly
expanding population of imegrants pacted in high
density housing,(this was made very clear by Rose
in the report on tenements, see: Tenements AE 685
Winter 76 by Rose Petrucha), it was soon necessary
to create bath houses to prevent the spread of disease.
In the United States, notable medicinal baths
include those at Hot Springs, Ark.; Warm Springs, Ga.;
Saratoga Springs, New York; and White Sulphur Springs,
West Virginia. Although the library has texts on all
of these medicinal baths, Only White Sulphur Springs
has a book that is illustrated, and for that reason
it is here chosen as an example.
40 White Sulphur Springs is located in West Virginia.
Its Companies properties included an area of 7,000
acres with well-made and well-kept walks winding in
41 every direction. Everything about the place stressed
health. There was a staff of doctors and nurses reported
to be of the highest calliber. Being a mineral water
health resort it was a school of hygiene, mental and
42 physical, and its sphere of usefullness was as much
in the prltevention of disease as in its cure. They did
offer this warning: "However valuable mineral waters
may be as medicinal agents, they are not applicable
43 to all diseases, nor are the best results to be exp-
ected unless they be prescribed with a due regard to
the condition present in the individual case". While
waiting for their ailments to leave them the guests
84 stayed in the Greenbrier Hotel. It is a Georgian style
45 hotel and was said to be entirely fireproof. This
46 health resort is typical of medicinal bath resorts
47 in the United States. They stressed health and people
had faith in their ills being oured simply by soaking
in or drinking from the spring.
4C8 In the days of our westward expansion it was not
only the seekers of opportunity and adventure, but also
the health-seekers, that traveled westward. The doctors
were doing their part by advising patients to go west
for "climate cure". Wether in the first or the last
stages of illness and sometimes no matter what the
diagnosis, the patient would be told to take two asprins
49 and go west in the morning. To meet the demand a great
50 variety of health resorts sprung up in the west, many
51 of which included mineral baths as their major attr-
52 action. Along with the baths the traveler was offered
many unusual ways to cure his ills, including the
53 "Inhalatorium," used to breathe medicinal vapors.
55-63 A fine example of a local bathhouse, which
unfortunately is no longer with us, is the Bathhouse
at White Springs, Hamilton County, Florida. See
appendicies.
SLIDE LIST:
#l SLIDE
SOURCE
1 Introduction
A Tale of Soap and Water by Hallook
2 Mohenjo- Daro. Great Bath. View. 3rd M, B.C.
Slide Library # 32751
3 Knossos. Palace. Bathroom in east wing.
Slide Library # 48882
4 Map showing movement of bath types.
Mechanization Wakes Commaadd, S. Giedion, p.635.
5 Winter sun bath Forum Thermnae, Ostia.
Mechanization Takes Command, S. Giedion, p.630.
6 Steam Room, Islamic Bath, Hamlmam of K~alaour, Cairo.
Mechanization Takes Command, S. Giedion, p.631.
? Rest Hall/ Hot Air Room, Islamic Bath.
Mechanization Takes Command, S. Gledion, p.640.
8 Eastern Regeneration type baths.
Mechanization Takes Command, S. Giedion, p.639.
9 Bath House, Caerwent, Plan.
Clean and. Descent, L. Wright, p.20.
10 Russian Bath, 1812.
Mechanization Takes Command, S Giedion, p.649.
11 Late Gothic Steam~ Bath, Fifteenth Century.
Mechanization Takes Command, S. Gledion, p.651.
12 Moorish Bath, 1858.
Mechanization Takes Command, S. Giedion, p.669.
13 Hellentatic Gymnaasium, Priene, Second Century B.C.
Mechhaniza~ton Takes Commnand, S. Giedion, p.638.
14 Pompeii. Stabian Baths,
Slide Library # 38030
15 Pompeii. Stabian Baths.
Slide Library # 52880
16 Pompe~ii. Stabian Baths.
Slide Library # 52881
17 Pomlpeii. Stabian Baths.
Slide Library # 52882
Plan. B.C. 1st Century.
The Palestra (interior),
Ceiling detail.
18 Pompeii. Forum Baths, Plan, B.C. 1st Century.
Slide Library # 38038
1~9 Pompeii. Forum Baths. Sections, reconstruction,
B.C. 1st Century.
Slide Library # 38053
20 Pompeii, Forum: Forum Baths towards Vesuvius.
Slide Library # 58412
21 Pompeii. Forum: Baths towards "terpidarium".
Slide Library # 58414
22 Pompeii. Forum: Baths towards "oalidarium".
Slide Library # 58413
23 Roman Baths, Bath, Englatnd. Plan.
Clean and Descesnt, L. Wright, p.19.
Roman Bath. Bath, A.D). 2nd Century
Slide Library # 37559
25 Baths of caracalla, central hall.
A Tale of Soap and Water, Hallock, p.36.
26 Rome. Baths of Caracalla. Plan, 212-223 A.D.
Slide Library # 43803
27 Baths of Caracalla, Romea.
Clean and Descent, L. Wright, p.15.
28 Rome. Baths of Caracalla. Elevation and sections.
(Pa~lladio drawing)
Slide Library # 34445
29 Rome. Baths of Caracalla. Reconstruction, air
view section. A.D. 212-223.
Slide Library # 38039
30 Rome. Baths of Caracalla.
Slide Library # 6100
31 Rome. Baths of Calracalla,
Slide Library #Y 11132
32 Rome. Baths of Caracalla,
Slide Library # 38305
33 Rome. Baths~ of Caracalla,
Slide Library # 38304
34 Rome. Baths of Caracalla.
"Aida" in the Baths.
Slide Library # 52852
212-223 A.D.
interior arch, 217 A.D.
"tepidarium", A.D. 212-223.
"tepidarium", A.D. 212-223.
1969 production of
35 Rome. Baths of Diooletian. Plan.
Slide Library # 21292
36 Rome. Baths of Diocletian. Restored section.
Slide Library # 2124C7
37 Thermae of Diocletian.
Mechanization Takes Commnand, S. Giedion, p.638.
38 Rome. Baths of Diocletian, Vaults, A.D. 302.
Slide Library # 20830
39 Thermae, 19th C, Germany, 1883.
Mechanlizatton Taes omand, S Giedi on, p .681 .
40 Map of White Sulphur Springs.
The White Sulphur springs, Maccorkle, p.89.
4-1 The Old White Sulphur Springs Building.
The White Sulphur Springs, Maccorkle, Frontispiece.
42 White Sulphur Springs, 185j7.
The White! Sulphur Springs, MacCorketl, P.49.
43 The Spring House.
The White Sulphur Springs, MacCorkle, p.69.
44s Greenbrier and the Bath Buildings.
The White Sulphur Springs, MaccorPBB, p.84.
45 The Spring House.
The White Sulphur Springs, MacCorkle, p.92.
46 One of the Portals of the Greenbrier.
The White Sulphur Springs, MacCorkle, p.34-6.
47 The Greenbrier.
The White Sulphur Springs, MacCorkle, p.347.
48 Drawing, "Go West, Young Man; Go Westl"
Health Seekers in the Southwest 1817-1900.
Jones, p.83.
49 Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Health Seekers in the Southwest 1817-1900.
Jones, p.180.
50 Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Health Seekers in the Southwest 1817-1900.
Jones. p.181.
51 Las Vegas Hot Springs, New Mexico, 1882.
ealth Seekers in the Southwest 1817-1900.
ones. p.182.
52 Antlers Hotel, colorado springs, 1883.
Health Seekers in the Southwest. 1817-1900.
Jones. p.183.
53 "Inhalatorium"
Health Seekers in the Southwest 1817-1900.
Jones. p.179.
54 Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado.
Health Seekers in the Southwest 1817-1900.
Jones. p.179.
55 Bath House, Hamilton county, Florida.
Gainesville Sun, April 11, 1973.
56 Toweer, Bath House, Hamilton county,Florida.
Gainesville Sun, April 11, 1973.
57 Bath House, Hamlilton county, Florida.
Gainetsville Sun, April 11, 1973.
59 Bath House, Hamilton county, Florida.
Gainesville Sun, April 11, 1973.
60-63 Set of HABS drawings of the Bath House,
Hsamilton County, Florida.
BIBLEOGRAPHY:
Gledion, S.; Mechanization Takes Command,
Oxford University Press, New York, 1948.
Hallook, Grace T.; A Tale of Soap and Water,
New York, 1928.
Jones, Billy M.; Health-Seekers in the Southwest, 1817-1900,
University of Oklahoma Press, 1967.
Keesling, James L.; "Survey of Sanitation." term paper,
AE 681, University of Florida, Nov. 22, 1974. (typed)
MacCorkle, William Alexander; The White Sulphur Springs,
'hatNg~aeLPrablishing Company, New York, 1916.
North, N.L.; Saratoga Waters,
New York,1840.
Welsh, Frederick A.; A History of Baths,
New York, 191C2.
Wright, Lawrence; Clean and Descent,
Viking Press, New York, 1960.
APPENDICIES
APPENDIX A
BATHHOUSE AT WHITE SPRINGS, FLORIDA
article by Mary Nell Reeves
GAINES'VILLE SUN
April 11, 1973
APPENDIX B
BATHHOUSE AT WHITE SPRINGS, FLORIDA
article by Russ Taylor
LAKE CITY REPORTER
Feb. 5, 1973
Text and Photos By Russ Taylor
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White Sulfur Spring reads the faded black let-
tering atop the bath house of the old Colonial Inn,
. the third such structure to be built by man over a
limestone fissure from which flows many
thousandss of gallons of clear cool water every
Ii noinute.
Gone nowr is the hellish perfume of sulfur fumes
That once greeted travelers at the town's edge and
Sgrew stronger as they approached the source.
Gone too are most of the 14 hotels and boarding,
houses that once housed pilgrims from near and far
1as they sought to find relief in the curative waters,
10 Rany did. Just as had the Indians of various
southeastern tribes wsho held sacred the land .
Surrounding the spring in an eight mile circle. It
wi\nas a place to which the old infirm and war- ~
;, pounded of all tribes could come to rest and heal~i
k~~i~ithoult fear. For any hostile act on sacred soil i
wiiiuould surely bring the wrath of heaven down upon
iii the w~rongdoer.
Af ter the great w~hi te chieftain called Jackso qhad i
i~driven the red m~an into the far reaches of'the;
.~ Evergladles the white settlement that had sprung
.~: up, calling itself after the spring, began to prosper.:
.ii~ The comling of the railroad made it possible for,
.. thousands to come and seek their health or
pleasuree amniid the grea t live oaks and gently rolling
~Sterrain that gave the town its special charm.
And it wras the seekers of pleasure, the bringers
;: of vice and violence that some say angered the One
iii In1 Heaven and brought ruin to the tow~n in 1911,
S.. Rays of the setting sun glint off glass panes
of the carrilon tower as the sun sets on an era.
`C
n I White Springs
i
IrL*'rrl. t d
r ln921
For sometime prior to that year, gambling,-
strong drink and their tempting attendants hall
taken root .in several of the towns hotels and
boarding houses.
The towns,downw'ard slide into the pit had not
gonle unnoticed by the local churchmen and one
1\let~hodist minister in particular who denounced
the philistines publicly from his pulpit and
ibeseeched G~od for help in prayer.
As the story has it, his prayers were answered ott~
February 11, 1.911, the day a fire broke out in the~iii
Baptist parsonage and was swept through the town
by high winds, destroying most of the hostellry, in-
deed the major part of the town. ::~
White Springs was neirer to fully recover from
That fire. At the railheads pushed southward down
the perimsula the tourist trade which built the~
8itown dwindled. s
~PNow twto of the last remaining relics of that~
i~~bygone era, the Colonial Inn Hotel and its famous i~ri
Spring house on the Suw~armee are about to depart ~
:: the present, the latter b fullyl' to be replaced by a 5:'
~similar if not identical structure.
B ut for those remember the leisurely Sunday~ii
afternoons at the spring, and the fine food and ~
fellowship offered by old hotel, i~t might best to find
stay clear of that part of town when the old cypress s
~timbers begin to fall.
Today
An Era EndS
If Only it Could Talk
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