| Showers are taken for granted in that they feature in | | | | showers in her lifetime, and early Christians avoided |
| the majority of modern households and something we | | | | washing to be more holy. St. Francis of Assisi even |
| simply accept as a morning or evening ritual. The | | | | listed dirtiness of one of the signs of a holy person, and |
| shower has come a long way though from the early | | | | St. Agnes died at 13 without ever having taken a bath. |
| days as this brief history outlines. | | | | In all, quite a smelly period of history and in hindsight |
| Showers in History: The Waterfall | | | | probably better to have been unholy and clean than |
| In many warm countries like New Zealand and Hawaii, | | | | holy and smelly. |
| ancient tribal people would bathe in waterfalls in the | | | | Showers in History: Back in Vogue |
| belief that the falling water would help rub the bather | | | | By the 16th Century cleanliness was back in fashion, |
| clean. The idea soon caught on, and even those who | | | | but only after a third of Europe had fallen foul of |
| didn't live near a waterfall would tip a bucket of water | | | | plague, thereby highlighting the need for proper sanitary |
| over themselves to rinse soap suds away. Imagine | | | | systems and cleanliness. Bathing rooms were added |
| having to stand in your garden today whilst someone | | | | to Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth took a bath |
| tipped a bucket of water over your head, perhaps not | | | | once a month, so still a little bit smelly all the same, not |
| much fun for those of us living in the UK. | | | | wonder she was never amused. |
| Showers in History: Ancient Egypt | | | | Showers in History: The First Shower Patent |
| Excavators of the ancient Egyptian city Akhenaten, | | | | The modern shower that we tend to find in our |
| which dates back to 1350 B.C., found the remains of a | | | | bathroom first cam into use during the latter stages of |
| small bathroom. From the design of the basin, it is | | | | the 18th Century. The first patent was granted in 1767 |
| believed to have been a simple form of shower that | | | | to William Feetham. The earliest models had a hand |
| was probably operated by servants pouring vases of | | | | pump, and soon gained popularity for their modest use |
| water onto the bather. This shows that the best way | | | | of water compared to that of a bath. They were also |
| to bathe is to get someone else to do it for you. The | | | | smaller and cheaper to install than bath tubs with |
| modern day equivalent would the body jet showers | | | | servants having less waste water to carry away. |
| where it does most of the work itself. | | | | Showers in History: The English Regency |
| Showers in History: Babylon | | | | When doctors began prescribing showers for health |
| King Nebuchandnezzar (605 to 562 B.C.) made the | | | | the first designer shower was born as their popularity |
| most of Babylon's series of aqueducts by bathing in a | | | | began to grow. The English Regency Shower was a |
| shower room where slaves poured water over him as | | | | frame made of metal painted to look like bamboo. At |
| he washed with soap made of ashes and animal fat, | | | | the base was a drain, and over the bather's head as a |
| though you have to wonder whether he was cleaner | | | | tank. A hand pump pushed the water from the basin |
| before or after the ashes and animal fat soap. | | | | into the tank and down over the bather and basically |
| Perhaps a early version of the soaps now available in | | | | the equivalent over a modern day mixer shower, |
| Lush? | | | | though the individual got a workout and a wash at the |
| Showers in History: Ancient Greece | | | | same time. |
| Citizens in Ancient Greece took outdoor showers by | | | | Showers in History: The Modern Shower |
| standing under a stream of water flowing from the | | | | After this shower renaissance, showers became |
| spouts found on the sides of large fountains in the | | | | thought of as strictly utilitarian devices and the fancy |
| cities, making sure that you go to know your neighbour | | | | designs that had rapidly developed disappeared. It |
| whether you liked them or not. Communal showering | | | | wasn't until the 1980s that manufacturers responded to |
| has always been popular throughout history such as | | | | the desire for more versatile showers producing |
| the Roman Baths where it was always seen as a | | | | showers with body jets, coloured glass frontages, LED |
| group activity. | | | | lighting, Rainshower effects etc. Today the choice on |
| Showers in History: The Downfall of Hygiene | | | | offer to the consumer is immense so that there is |
| Bathing lost its popularity during the 15th Century, when | | | | something for everyone, regardless of price range, |
| it was believed to be linked with vanity. Queen Isabella | | | | taste or space. |
| of Spain boasted that she had taken only two | | | | |