Mid-19th Century
America
Copper and iron: 13 inches high, 33 inches diameter
Campbell House Museum
Descriptive Detail
This circular, hand-wrought copper bathtub is still as bright in color as when it made more than a century ago. Bold hammer marks on both the interior and the exterior create an unintentional decorative quality to this utilitarian object. Its double-round lip and riveted stepped base both add to stability. Dating from 1840-1870, this forty-pound tub has two forged copper bail-type handles attached on either side so it could be moved fairly easily when empty.
National Historical Connections
Throughout history copper bathtubs have often graced the bathing areas and bathrooms of the wealthy. Besides the beauty of the metal, copper is also rust-resistant, durable, and holds heat better than other materials. Earlier times weren’t aware of it, but copper is also naturally anti-bacterial.
It wasn't until about the 1830s that both bathing on a regular basis and bathing the whole body were widely accepted. Even then, the lack of central heat, the difficulty of heating and carrying water, along with the harshness of homemade soap or the expense of mild soap, made daily bathing a luxury that was practiced by very few. Bathing, like laundry, was a complicated and labor-intensive process. Even with indoor plumbing installed by the Campbells in 1880, water still had to be heated. One of the Campbell house servants would need to heat and carry the water upstairs from the kitchen.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century when indoor plumbing became more common, well-to-do urban families such as the Campbells not only had a separate room for bathing, but they often had piped water or a private cistern. A large majority of St. Louis families would get their water from a hydrant, a pump, a well, or even a stream located nearby.
However, the luxury of indoor plumbing had its hazards. The water for the Campbells’ plumbing system came straight from the Mississippi, with minimal. It was much dirtier than cistern water. The Campbell children, some of who died of water-borne diseases such as diphtheria and cholera probably contracted the disease from the dirty tap water. Additionally, the plumbing system was made of lead. Several of the Campbell children were born with birth defects such as spina bifida. Lead in the water may have contributed to these conditions. Even though the Campbells could afford the best medical care, nineteenth century medicine was often lethal to a sick child who was frequently bled and dosed with mercury salts and other poisonous substances in hopes of recovery. It is not until the beginning of the twentieth century that the city’s Water Division first experimented in using lime and ferrous sulfate as water purifiers. The number of homes with indoor plumbing systems gradually increased, but it is not until after World War II that all households would be connected.
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