One Stage in the Evolution of the Porcelain Enamel Bath
A Slop Sink of Long Ago
Bath tubs and lavatories have improved as much in appearance in the time that has elapsed as have water closets. The earliest bath tubs of which we have any knowledge were hewn out of marble. Later, when bath tubs came into rather extensive use in the United States, they were made of wood, lined with either sheet zinc or sheet copper, tinned on one side, and it is only within comparatively recent years that porcelain enameled tubs came into use, and that solid porcelain tubs were manufactured in this country. Open plumbing was unheard of twenty-five years ago and in its stead plumbing fixtures were concealed as much as possible by encasing them in woodwork of more or less ornate designs; at that time the lavatories were all made of marble, and of this material fully 90 per cent. of the lavatories were made up to about the year 1902. About that time, porcelain enameled and solid porcelain lavatories commenced taking the lead and worked a complete revolution in the design of these fixtures. Indeed, so sudden and complete was the change that inside of a year the marble-top lavatories were driven as completely from the market as though they never existed, and, outside of old work, they are as much a curiosity to-day as an old pan closet.
Bath Tub Encased in Woodwork