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The public bath house, available to every Angeleno with a few quarters to spare, was a thing of the past. Daugherty considers protecting his customer’s privacy a sacred duty. When talking to a reporter, he seems conflicted—torn between his naturally engaging, outgoing personality and his reticence to discuss others’ private affairs. Increased attention might lead to harassment from the types of zealots who believe that interfering with others’ private affairs is some kind of cosmic mandate.
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The Long Beach Bath House was soon a popular place for men to ogle women as an orchestra played. “The plunges had stadium seating on either side, and they would give water shows, and people would do trapeze acts and acrobatics over the water and in the water—water ballet and all kinds of things that you could watch,” Fresco says. Swimming races and diving competitions, often featuring athletes from local universities and clubs, were also popular.
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On July 2, 1909, Redondo Beach was the place to be in Los Angeles County. More than 6,000 day-trippers crowded into trains to make their way to the small beach town. They were there to witness the grand opening of the Redondo Beach Bath House. Sharing your experience helps others make the right decision when searching for a business like this. This profile has not been claimed by the business owner or representative.
A glimpse of modern life in late 1800s - San Antonio Express-News
A glimpse of modern life in late 1800s.
Posted: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 08:00:00 GMT [source]
About Steve's Bathhouse
Due to the limited space in small living quarters, bathtubs often held coal or firewood. Even as late as 1950, only 1/3 of the homes in the poorest neighborhoods of St. Louis had private bath facilities. Throughout the 1890s, these affordable, egalitarian bath houses (often backed by railroad companies) sprung up and down the Los Angeles County coast, as railroads brought Angelenos to once isolated parts of the shore. The three pools included a deep-water diving pool, a general pool, and a novel baby pool. By midday, 1,136 bathers were splashing and frolicking in the water.
We also educate gay, straight and bisexual men and women on the practice of safer sex and drug and alcohol abuse. In partnership with Washoe County Health Department, we offer free and confidential HIV, Syphilis, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea testing. While queued to get clean, St. Louisans used the locations as a place to socialize with friends and neighbors. The bath houses were considered safe, clean, and pleasant to use. Due to the cavernous echoes created by ceramic tile, local newspapers reported prolific singing and choir boys practicing hymns.
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But the Santa Monica Hotel Bath House soon had a formidable North Beach neighbor in the form of the grand Arcadia Hotel, between what is today Colorado Avenue and Pico Boulevard. The luxurious Arcadia, catering to the elite of Southern California, opened in 1887 and included a large bath house, complete with a hot salt-water plunge. In the meantime, his wife ran the bath house throughout the 1870s and early ’80s.
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Over the years, numerous accidental drownings were reported both in the plunges and the nearby ocean. The private changing rooms, rented by the hour or the day, were perfect for assignations, criminal behavior, and occasionally, mysterious deaths. In 1907, a man named Jon C. Riebe was found dead and badly scalded in the bathtub of his private changing room at the Ocean Park Bath House.
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That day came in August 1907, when Public Bath House No. 1 opened near the intersection of Carr and 10th in north St. Louis city. Over the next thirty years, St. Louis would build five more. Public Bath House No. 1 contained forty-one showers and one tub bath for men. Strictly divided by separate entrances, the women’s side of the bathhouse had fifteen showers and two tubs. Using the baths were free, but soap and a towel could be rented for one cent if a visitor did not bring their own. Modest bathers could even rent a bathing suit if they so desired.
Toward the end of the 19th century, social reformers led a movement to improve the quality life of all Americans, not just the wealthy. At the center of this movement was a push to improve the living and working conditions for poor people living in urban slums. Since being dirty and being poor were seen as going hand in hand, promoting cleanliness became a part of that movement.
Municipal Bath House #6 still stands today at 1120 St. Louis Avenue in north city. It likely goes unnoticed by the vast majority people who drive near it in order to visit a St. Louis landmark just up the street, the famous Crown Candy Kitchen. Additional bath houses continued to be constructed in densely populated neighborhoods.
However, not everyone considered the constant melodies to be music to their ears. In 1951, bath house attendants bitterly complained that the endless renditions of The Weavers’ popular hit, Goodnight Irene, were driving them crazy. Second, the fine people at Landmarks Association of St. Louis again went above and beyond. I called Landmarks for some help, and when I showed up, they had a stack of articles, clippings, and books ready for me to look through.
Though it used to be busiest during the graveyard hours, it’s now busier during the day. Cameron Collins' blog Distilled History was recently named Best Personal Blog in Riverfront Times 2013 Web Awards. Grime was especially noticeable in the slums and tenements of urban American cities. In St. Louis, a survey taken in 1908 showed that in the poorest neighborhoods, only one bathtub existed for every 200 residents. In the densely populated tenements where more than a quarter of the population lived, one bathtub existed for every 2,479 residents. To make matters worse, bathtubs were not always used for their intended purpose.
She also points out that it’s a more private environment than having sex in a public space, like a park—not to mention significantly more legal—and is safer than inviting a stranger met on the internet into a private residence. Part of Daugherty’s disease prevention and safe sex efforts is a strictly enforced no drugs and alcohol policy. If customers come to the door clearly intoxicated, they’re not allowed in.
My initial goal was just to find where the original six bath houses were located, but they provided much more. Notably, Landmarks set me up with an article from the Fall 1989 issue of Gateway Heritage magazine titled “The Politics of Public Bathing”. It became the main source of much of the information in this post. If you read this blog regularly, please consider becoming a member of Landmarks or donating to them. They are a wonderful organization that strives for historic preservation in St. Louis.
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