In the Victorian era, people bathed in “rocking tubs.” These weren’t just for fun—they were invented in 1891 to mimic the motion of sea waves, believed to cure a wide range of illnesses. The trend soon spread across Europe and the United States.
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At the time, visiting an outdoor water cure facility was expensive. It cost around $10, while the average American salary in the 19th century was just $1 a day. With the invention of rocking tubs, however, Victorian doctors claimed that patients no longer needed to leave home to benefit from hydrotherapy.
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| Source: Sundogrr |
The tubs were designed so that just three pails of hot or cold water could set the rocking motion in motion, giving the user the soothing sensation of ocean waves, without the mess of splashing. For a regular bath, users could simply wedge the curved back to stop the rocking function.
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Despite claims that no water would escape, the tubs weren’t entirely spill-proof. By the early 2000s, they had fallen out of fashion.
Still, this invention marked a shift toward affordable, at-home water therapies. Modern homes began installing freestanding baths with Victorian detailing, a nod to the era that brought bathing into the home and into the realm of healing.
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