Personal Hygiene during the golden era? did some people only bath once a week??

[avedwards]

Surely when showers became more common in houses people would have been more likely to shower daily. In The Big Sleep (published 1939) Marlowe mentions having a shower to wake up, and he is not a particularly well to do character living in a small apartment.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Some apartments had *only* a shower -- no bathtub -- but it was often in a hallway and had to be shared by all the tenants on one floor. But it was more common for a house to have a tub but no shower, especially if the house was built before the 1890s or so.

In the UK, wartime rationing governed baths: you were allowed no more than five inches of bathwater per family member, once a week -- you actually had to paint a line on your bathtub, and water meters would be checked to ensure compliance.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

My apartment was built in 1926 and has both a shower and a bath. They are separate from each other and on opposite ends of the bathroom. It even has an original 1928 shower door frame with original apartment building crest on it. (There is a manufacturer and number inside -- I googled it! Made in Philadelphia, even!)

The tub has a very old spout and drain thingie to keep the water from overflowing. The taps are newer, though. Also, the actual tub is very porous (spelling?) and it can be a pain to clean. It's not one of those modern "smooth" tubs that wipe clean, you gotta SCRUB this baby!

Also, I was very happy to see my bathroom's EXACT fixtures (soap dishes, towel racks, and toilet paper holder) in the 1940 Sears Winter catalog on page 1009! Hehe! I KNEW it was redecorated sometime in the late 1930s. KNEW IT!

 

[Undertow]

An older friend of mine (a vintage sort of guy) once gave me some advice: if you don't shower, shave and comb your hair every day, you're a bum. And if you can't iron your shirt and polish your shoes, you're not fit to be employed.

I think he was trying to tell me something! lol

 

[the snake's hips]

There are some places where a once a week bath is less itchy-sounding than others.


There are religious sects in Utah and Arizona that still stick to weekly baths, because to do so more often is considered vanity. I don't know if living in the remote desert is part of it or not. But I do know that it helps with those really giant high bangs they're supposed to maintain.

 

[Pompidou]

The closest thing to scientific evidence in favor of not being too clean is that a natural musky body odor is supposed to be arousing to the opposite sex. The challenge, I imagine, is determining how much is just right. I aim for zero, and figure, if I fall slightly short of my goal, well, it just makes me sexier - a no lose situation. Clean, sexy, I don't care which of those people want to call me. Either works.

 

[Foofoogal]

They still sell regular Old Spice everywhere I have seen, in addition to the high endurance.
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It says regular but it not.
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A musky body odor can you reproduced with musk perfume.. haha..I want my bath. Vain I guess I am.
At the very least wash up with a washcloth daily.

 

[Sam Craig]

When I was a kid ... mid 50s ... I didn't even know anyone who had a shower
Bathtubs only
In 1968, we moved into a house that had been divided into apartments during World War II and a shower had been installed in the upstairs
It was wonderful
What a revelation!
And it was a great walk in, with tile flooring
I was in junior high and used it, probably every couple days or so
My sister was in high school and I would suggest she used it daily
My parents, who had grown up in the Depression, bathed and I would estimate it was weekly, unless there was further need
It was a different expectation
We hadn't been completely brainwashed by the TV commercials, either
Most people didn't stink. They "washed up" during the week. Men shaved at least once a day ... twice if they went to church on Wednesday night
But ...
The abundance of showers has made a big difference and I think many people do find it THE way to wake up

Sam

 

[VitaminG]

One can never be too clean and fresh smelling.
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Umm...I must be crazy then as I definitely have to take a bath daily or in Summer 2 or 3 times.
The only thing I can figure about most of this thread is the locality. In Texas where it gets 100 or so to 108 it is a necessity. It is what I grew up doing and still do.

it gets pretty hot here, but we've been in drought for such a long time that water has been at a bit of a premium. It is easing now, with the local dams at 100% capacity with recent rains compared to 38% this time last year.

As a consequence, despite the heat & humidity, 4 minute showers once a day are the norm.

So as I've become accustomed to just the one shower per day, I like to shower right before bed. Hate getting the grit from the day's exertions in the bedsheets. Getting ready for work without a shower bothers me much less, especially considering that during summer I'll probably work up a sweat just getting to the office anyway.

 

[Pompidou]

That's what I do - shower before bed. If I'm clean going into the sheets, I'll be clean coming out of them. I only get dirty during a day's affairs, so I might as well maximize my clean time.

 

[bumphrey hogart]

I used to be a shower every morning kind of guy,I just didn't feel awake without one,I'd also feel sort of grubby.Then 3 years ago I fractured a vertebra in my back and couldn't shower without help from my better half and it really took it out of me when I did,I was knackered for the rest of the day.It's surprising how quickly you get used to a new regime,now I shower 2/3times a week and never feel dirty.I also soon know when I need a shower,I didn't lose my sense of smell,only broke my back.I use deodorant after I've showered only,if I think I'm getting pungent I have another shower.
I think most of it is habit,I was brought up by my grandmother and she told me regularly,(to dissuade me from what she considered too frequent bathing), about a woman she knew who never washed her hair,she would rub it with silk handkerchiefs,she said this woman had the most beautiful hair she'd ever seen.It was an often heard cry from the older generation a few years ago,'wash my hair once a month whether it needs it or not',and this was said with almost pride,as if they were on the bandwagon with this newfangled cleanliness thing.I know I never once saw my grandmother take a bath,(she died in 82 when I was 18),but I would often catch her having a stand up sponge wash in the kitchen,and lord only knows how the laundry was done,we never had a washing machine or any other white goods,not even a fridge.
So I think,yes,certainly in the UK,cleanliness and personal hygiene were a very different thing to what we think of as normal now,but I certainly don't think they considered themselves or each other dirty and if we were suddenly,magically transported back,I don't think we'd think aren't these people filthy and smelly,I just think they had different personal hygiene regimens brought about by the facilities available at the time.

 

[Puzzicato]

In the UK, wartime rationing governed baths: you were allowed no more than five inches of bathwater per family member, once a week -- you actually had to paint a line on your bathtub, and water meters would be checked to ensure compliance.

Apparently in the mid-1970s there was a bad drought and the recommendation was to go back to that. Of course, there were a lot of baths still in use that had the line on them.

 

[rue]

My husband and I were talking about this and we think it depends on where you were raised. I was born in (1969) California and was told to take a bath every single day as was my mother as a child (born in 1951), whereas he was raised in Ohio and was told to take one every three days. We come from two different financial backgrounds, so maybe that had something to do with it. Another thing is that I was amazed after I moved to Virginia for a short time and found out that the places outside city limits didn't have running water or electricity until 1950, but in California we lived in a 1920s home that had 5 bathrooms and electrical, so maybe that had something to do with it too. Basically I think it had to do with your geographical location as well as your financial situation.

 

[HungaryTom]

Degas:
http://www.robinurton.com/history/Impressionism/DegasBath.jpg
http://www.robinurton.com/history/Impressionism/DegasBath2.jpg
http://images.worldgallery.co.uk/i/...After-the-Bath--Woman-Drying-Herself-5792.jpg
http://artinvestment.ru/content/download/news/20090102_degas_after_the_bath.jpg
http://www.askdegas.com/images/newsletter_images/55.jpg
http://www.ago.net/assets/images/assets/artwork_detail/55-49.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rting_her_Back',_pastel_on_paper,_c._1887.jpg
http://www.edgar-degas.org/After-the-Bath,-woman-with-a-Towel,-c.1885-90.jpg
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/degas/images/14073101.jpg

Rembrandt:
http://www.myartprints.com/kunst/rembrandt_hamerszoon_van_rijn/die_frau_im_bad.jpg

Sorolla:
http://www.joaquin-sorolla-y-bastida.org/After-the-Bath,-1916.jpg

Lotz Károly: After the bath
http://www.museumshop.hu/product/pic/lotz_furdolotz_utan.gif
http://mek.niif.hu/04000/04094/html/nagykep.jpg
http://mek.niif.hu/04000/04094/html/nagykep.jpg

There was a hygene - it was called le lavabo, no showers. Sometimes bathtub

 

[scotrace]

When I first saw the house I live in now, the sight of a shower-over-the-clawfoot was a bit of a letdown, and plans were quickly made to replace it. I wouldn't trade it for anything now. To have a big soaker tub and a shower available is the bee's knees.

 

[JimWagner]

I take a shower pretty much every day, but I haven't had a bath as such since I can remember. I'm sure that when I was a kid, before my Dad remodeled the bathroom and put in a shower I took baths, but not since.

 

[W-D Forties]

My parents generation, born in poverty in Liverpool, in the 20's and 30's, bathed once a week. The advice I have read (from WW2) was to wash hair once a fortnight!
I have had friends in the 80's and 90's who tried that thing of never washing hair as 'the natural oils will clean it' if brushed regularly. They did have lovely hair (although they had lovely thick hair to begin with, unlike me!), but their hair did smell slightly of fish and chips...

 

[John in Covina]

People may have bathe or showered once a week but many people would do a what my mom called a "Sitz-Baden" Or a sponge bath, where you had some hot water and a sponge or wash cloth and soap to clean the hairy parts of the body when one felt grubby or smelly.

Also I was told that using a cologne to cover body odor was more prevalent back then.

 

[Drappa]

I grew up with my grandparents, born in 1917 and 1919, and both of them only bathed once a week but never smelled. My dad (their son) showers daily, but my mom has skin rashes so started showering once or twice a week and also doesn't smell.
I remember having to share baths with my cousin who lived in the same house with us as a child. Up to this day I find baths unsanitary unless I have a shower first - my hang-up, I know. So I shower daily, but only bathe a few times a year if I want to relax and not to get clean.
My inlaws only bathe on Saturdays and get worried if their routine gets messed up and they happen to be out that day. I also have to admit that my mother in law really starts to smell by the end of the week, but we haven't had the heart to tell her. I thought bathing once a week was more common in the UK, as I have a few friends whose parents all only shower or bathe once a week and wash their hair even less frequently, and most of them are well off.

 

[annet]

i remember sharing a bath tub with my father or mother as a child, and later with my brothers until i was around ten. i guess it was a way to save time and water... my parents have always been quite green in energy and water use.