The bathing machine was a device, popular from the 18th century until the early 20th century, to allow people at beaches to change out of their usual clothes, change into swimwear, and wade in the ocean. Bathing machines were roofed and walled wooden carts that rolled into the sea. Some had solid wooden walls, others canvas walls over a wooden frame, and commonly walls at the sides and curtained doors at each end.
The use of bathing machines was part of the etiquette for sea-bathing to be observed by both men and women who wished to behave "respectably." [1]
Especially in Britain, even with the use of the machine to protect modesty, bathing for men and women was usually segregated, so that people of the opposite sex would not see each other in their bathing suits which, although extremely modest by modern standards, were not considered proper clothing in which to be seen in public.
The bathing machines in use in Margate, Kent, were described by Walley Chamberlain Oulton in 1805 as:
[F]our-wheeled carriages, covered with canvas, and having at one end of them an umbrella of the same materials which is let down to the surface of the water, so that the bather descending from the machine by a few steps is concealed from the public view, whereby the most refined female is enabled to enjoy the advantages of the sea with the strictest delicacy. [2]
People entered the small room of the machine while it was on the beach, wearing their street clothing. In the machine they changed into their bathing suit, although men were allowed to bathe nude until the 1860s, [3] placing their street clothes into a raised compartment where they would remain dry. [4]
Probably all bathing machines had small windows, [3] but one writer in the Manchester Guardian of May 26, 1906 considered them "ill-lighted" and wondered why bathing machines were not improved with a skylight. [5]
The machine would be wheeled or slid into the water. The most common machines had large wide wheels and were propelled in and out of the surf by a horse, or a pair of horses, with a driver. Less common were machines pushed in and out of the water by human power. Some resorts had wooden rails into the water for the wheels to roll on, and a few had bathing machines pulled in and out of the sea using cables propelled by a steam engine.
Once in the water, the occupants disembarked from the sea side down steps into the water. Many machines had doors front and back; those with only one door would be backed into the sea or need to be turned around. It was considered essential that the machine blocked any view of the bather from the shore. Some machines were equipped with a canvas tent lowered from the seaside door, sometimes capable of being lowered to the water, giving the bather greater privacy. Some resorts employed a dipper, a strong person of the same sex who would assist the bather in and out of the sea. Some dippers were said to push bathers into the water, then yank them out, considered part of the experience. [6]
Bathing machines would often be equipped with a small flag which could be raised by the bather as a signal to the driver that they were ready to return to shore.
According to some sources, the bathing machine was developed in 1750 in Margate, Kent. That version was probably intended to conceal the user until they were mostly submerged in the water because, at the time, bathing costumes were not yet common and most people bathed nude. "Mr. Benjamin Beale, a Quaker, was the inventor of the Bath Machine. Their structure is simple, but quite convenient; and by means of the umbrella, the pleasures of bathing may be enjoyed in so private a manner, as to be consistent with the strictest delicacy." [7] In the Scarborough Public Library, there is an engraving by John Setterington dated 1736 which shows people bathing and is popularly believed to be first evidence for bathing machines; however Devon claims this was a year earlier in 1735. [8]
Bathing machines were most common in the United Kingdom and parts of the British Empire with a British population, but were also used in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, the United States, Mexico, and other nations.
Prince Albert used one at Osborne Beach near Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, as did Queen Victoria, who used it to sketch and for bathing. She wrote about such an experience in her diary in July 1847. [9] After the monarch's death, her machine was used as a chicken coop, but it was restored in the 1950s and put on display in 2012. [10] [11] According to a news report, "The queen's bathing machine was unusually ornate, with a front verandah and curtains which would conceal her until she had entered the water. The interior had a changing room and a plumbed-in WC". [12]
Bathing machines remained in active use on English beaches until the 1890s, when they began to be parked on the beach. Legal segregation of bathing areas in Britain ended in 1901, and the use of bathing machines declined rapidly. They were then used as stationary changing rooms for a number of years. [13] Most of them had disappeared in the United Kingdom by 1914, [14] and, by the start of the 1920s they were almost extinct, even on beaches catering to an older clientele. [13] However, in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, Eric Ravilious was able to paint bathing machines on wheels with winches still in use as late as 1938. [15] In many places around the world they have survived to this day as stationary bathing boxes.
A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types may be worn by men, women, and children. A swimsuit can be described by various names, some of which are used only in particular locations or for particular types of suit, including swimwear, bathing suit, bathing attire, swimming costume, bathing costume, swimming suit, swimmers, swimming togs, bathers, cossie, or swimming trunks, besides others.
In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome.
Bathing is the act of washing the body, usually with water, or the immersion of the body in water. It may be for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes. By analogy, especially as a recreational activity, the term is also applied to sun bathing and sea bathing.
Nude swimming is the practice of swimming without clothing, whether in natural bodies of water or in swimming pools. A colloquial term for nude swimming is "skinny dipping".
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe and Japan. Day spas and medspas are also quite popular, and offer various personal care treatments.
A beach hut is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, changing into and out of swimming attire and for the safe storing of some personal belongings. Some beach huts incorporate simple facilities for preparing food and hot drinks by either bottled gas or occasionally mains electricity.
Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval practice of visiting spas for the beneficial effects of the waters. The practice of sea bathing dates back to the 17th century but became popular in the late 18th century. The development of the first swimsuits dates from the period as does the development of the bathing machine.
The banya is a traditional Russian steam bath that utilizes a wood stove. It is a significant part of Russian culture, and is typically conducted in a small room or building designed for dry or wet heat sessions. The high heat and steam cause bathers to perspire, and traditionally, genders were segregated in the banya, with separate rooms for each sex.
A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or thermae, namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool.
Martha Gunn is a fictional character (1726–1815) and was said to be the most famous of the mythical "dippers", certainly the most famous in Brighton. The story goes that she lived at 36 East Street, Brighton, in a house that still stands. Her grave stone stands in St Nicholas' churchyard in Brighton.
Binz is the largest seaside resort city on the German island of Rügen.
The Pike was an amusement zone in Long Beach, California. The Pike was founded in 1902 along the shoreline south of Ocean Boulevard with several independent arcades, food stands, gift shops, a variety of rides and a grand bath house. It was most noted for the Cyclone Racer (1930–1968), a large wooden dual-track roller coaster, built out on pilings over the water.
The St Kilda Sea Baths is a pool, spa, food and entertainment complex on St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia. Numerous 'sea bath' structures have come and gone on the St Kilda foreshore, the last built in a Spanish-Moorish style in 1931, which was demolished in the 1990s and replaced by the present structure, partly reconstructing the 1931 baths.
St Kilda Beach is a beach located in St Kilda, Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south from the Melbourne city centre. It is Melbourne's most famous beach. The beach is a sandy beach about 700 metres (2,300 ft) long between St Kilda Marina and St Kilda Harbour along Jacka Boulevard and St Kilda Esplanade. It is located at the north-east corner of Port Phillip and is protected from ocean swell, though still affected by strong westerly winds. With Port Phillip Bay being open to the sea, St Kilda Beach is subject to regular tides.
Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. It was one of the most common daily activities and was practised across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a communal activity. While the extremely wealthy could afford bathing facilities in their homes, private baths were very uncommon, and most people bathed in the communal baths (thermae). In some ways, these resembled modern-day destination spas as there were facilities for a variety of activities from exercising to sunbathing to swimming and massage.
Osborne Bay is a bay on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England, in the eastern arm of the Solent. It lies to the east of East Cowes and is 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) from the entrance to the River Medina. Its shoreline is 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) in length and is gently curving. It stretches from Old Castle Point in the west to Barton Point to the east. It is named for the neighbouring Osborne House estate on the shore, which owns the land facing the bay.
John 'Smoaker' Miles was a notable "bather" in Brighthelmstone. The male occupation of "bather" and the female equivalent of "dipper" were popular in Georgian era in Britain where the custom of sea bathing grew in popularity.
Ramsgate Sands, also known as Life at the Seaside, is an oil-on-canvas painting by William Powell Frith, made from 1851 to 1854, which depicts a beach scene in Ramsgate. The painting was Frith's first great commercial success: it was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1854, and bought by Queen Victoria. Frith made a series of similar pictures, showing groups of people in contemporary scenes, including The Derby Day of 1858, The Railway Station of 1862, and Private View at the Royal Academy of 1883.
The history of swimwear traces the changes in the styles of men's and women's swimwear over time and between cultures, and touches on the social, religious and legal attitudes to swimming and swimwear.
Beachgoing or beach tourism is the cultural phenomenon of travelling to an ocean beach for leisure or vacation.
Tobias Smollett in The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker. ... on each side a little window above ... 1789: ... over all their windows ... Diary and Letters of Madame d'Arblay, vol 5, pp. 35-6 ... men ... were able to bathe naked. ... make use of the bathing machines for changing ... Prudery did not win out until the 1860s.
ill-lighted