Bathing machine

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.

Contents

• Use
• History
• In fiction
• See also
• References
• Further reading
• External links

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.

Use

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.

• 
  Sea bathing in mid Wales c. 1800. Several bathing machines can be seen.
• 
  Mermaids at Brighton swim behind their bathing machines in this engraving by William Heath, c. 1829.
• 
  Man and woman in swimsuits, c. 1910. The woman is exiting a bathing machine. Once mixed-sex bathing became socially acceptable, the days of the bathing machine were numbered.

History

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.

In fiction

• In "The Hunting of the Snark" a Snark's fondness for bathing machines is listed as the fourth "unmistakable mark" that Snark hunters should consider.
• In Iolanthe , the Lord Chancellor's "Nightmare Song" describes a passenger ship as not much larger than a bathing machine.
• The use of the bathing machine and segregated swimming is depicted in the 2019 ITV series Sanditon, based on the 1817 unfinished novel of the same name by Jane Austen.
• In Persuasion by Jane Austen, the principal street in the town of Lyme is said to be "animated with bathing machines" during the season.
• In "Of Human Bondage", Somerset Maugham describes the main character, Philip, swimming in the ocean, after which, "he crawled back, dripping and cold, into his bathing-machine".
• Chapter 22 of Vanity Fair (1847–48) by William Makepeace Thackeray records that, following Amelia Sedley and George Osborne's wedding: "Some ten days after the above ceremony, three young men of our acquaintance were enjoying that beautiful prospect of bow windows on the one side and blue sea on the other, which Brighton affords to the traveller. Sometimes it is towards the ocean—smiling with countless dimples, speckled with white sails, with a hundred bathing-machines kissing the skirt of his blue garment—that the Londoner looks enraptured (...)"
• In Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas, "Serapfina led her to a bathing-machine that had been left near a dune. It was a small enclosed room set on high wheels, with a set of steps leading up to the door".
• The bathing machine is referred to in The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.
• The 2020 film, Ammonite , depicts Charlotte Murchison using a bathing machine.
• Chapter 24 in Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë describes the morning preparations on a beach in a bathing town, and mentions bathing machines.
• Alice in Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland naively concludes that bathing machines are to be found 'wherever you go to on the English coast'.

See also

• Bath chair
• Beach hut
• Victorian morality
• Martha Gunn (1726-1815), a professional dipper (a strong female who would escort the female bather, in the cart, into the surf, help her into the water and then help her out of the water)

Related Research Articles

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 immersion of the body, wholly or partially, usually in water, but often in another medium such as hot air. It is most commonly practised as part of personal cleansing, and less frequently for relaxation or as a leisure activity. Cleansing the body may be solely a component of personal hygiene, but is also a spiritual part of some religious rituals. Bathing is also sometimes used medically or therapeutically, as in hydrotherapy, ice baths, or the mud bath.

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 health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to prehistoric times. Spa towns, spa resorts, and day spas are popular worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe and Japan.

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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.

Martha Gunn was born in Brighthelmstone (Brighton) as Martha Killick (1726–1815) and was said to be the most famous of the "dippers", certainly the most famous in Brighton. She married Stephen Gunn in 1758 and they had 8 children and many of their descendants still live in Brighton. Stephen's sister Abigail married John "Smoaker" Miles, the most famous bather at the time. The story goes that Martha lived at 34 or 36 East Street, Brighton, in a house that still stands. Her grave stone stands in St Nicholas' churchyard in Brighton.

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.

Ramsgate as a name has its earliest reference as 'Ramisgate' or 'Remmesgate' in 1275, from Anglo-Saxon 'Hraefn's geat, or 'Raven's cliff gap', later to be rendered 'Ramesgate' from 1357.

Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. It was one of the most common daily activities and was practiced across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a 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.

Margate was a "limb" of Dover in the ancient confederation of the Cinque ports. It was added to the confederation in the 15th century.

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.

The Brighton Fishing Museum is a registered independent museum established in co-operation with the local fishing community in 1994. This museum is dedicated to Brighton's fishing and seaside history. It is located a short distance to the west of Brighton Pier within an area known as the Fishing Quarter, occupying two of the arches on the Kings' Road, which runs along Brighton's beachfront. Admission is free and donations appreciated.

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 the English artist William Powell Frith, who worked on it from 1851 to 1854. The painting, which depicts a beach scene in Ramsgate, 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.

References

Further reading

• Ferry, Kathryn. Beach Huts and Bathing Machines, Shire Publications, 2009. ISBN   978-0-7478-0700-1
• Schaefer, Mary & David. Where Did You Change?, Mica Publishers, 2006.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bathing machines .

• Bathing machines - Library of Congress photos at Flickr
• Bathing machine at Getty Images