The example set by a few cities has not been without effect, and other cities in the United States have followed the lead. It is noticeable, however, that it is only in the Eastern cities that public bath houses are built and maintained at the city's expense. According to the "Report on Public Baths and Comfort Stations," Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark and Trenton each have one public bath house and Chicago has three. Since the publication of that report, however, many cities both in the East and in the West have built public bath houses and many have built, are building, or have planned to build, public comfort stations. Indeed, the standard by which the advancement of cities will be judged in the near future is, "What have they done for the comfort and welfare of the citizens?" And among the visible evidences of what they have done, standing foremost will be the public bath houses, public comfort stations, and last, but not least, public wash houses.
Present Stage in the Evolution of Porcelain Enameled Baths
Events of to-day become history of to-morrow, and no history would be complete without recounting contemporaneous facts and events. So it is with sanitation; no history of that subject would be complete without illustrating a few of the plumbing fixtures in use at the time the record was written. We of the present age believe, as did those of a generation ago, that we have almost attained perfection in the manufacture of plumbing fixtures; but have we, or will succeeding generations look back upon what we consider good as we do upon the fixtures in vogue in the early 70's? This we do not know nor can we foresee. Time alone will tell.
A Twentieth Century Bathroom