# It’s not everyday I learn something new! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 6, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445 "2026-02-06T16:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/1 "2026-02-06T16:46:52Z")
I never understood the lyric "Which is something between a large bathing machine and a very small second-class carriage” in “The Nightmare Song” from Iolanthe. But, now I know: > **[Why Women Used To Be Forced To Swim Inside Oversized Wagons](https://allthatsinteresting.com/bathing-machines)** > > As with most things in the Victorian era, summertime was probably not that fun. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/2 "2026-02-06T16:52:43Z")
That headline is ridiculous. They didn’t swim inside the wagons. They dressed inside them, and climbed down from them to the water. As someone who hates getting sand everywhere, I wouldn’t half mind one of those picking me up on the street and dropping me off in the water while I changed. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/3 "2026-02-06T20:23:35Z")
They dressed inside them, the wagon was rolled into the surf, and the ladies could step out directly into the water without having to parade themselves on the sand in their shockingly (not) revealing bathing costumes. Even more important, once wet and with bathing costumes clinging to their skin, the ladies could get back to where their clothes were without a lot of onlookers ogling them. According to Wikipedia, these devices might also be used by gentlemen “who wished to behave respectably.” The cite for this information in Wikipedia is apparently a magazine article from 2013 by one Penelope Byrde. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/4 "2026-02-07T01:51:40Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The cite for this information in Wikipedia is apparently a magazine article from 2013 by one Penelope Byrde. Actually an article from 1987. The first page (only) is viewable online. [https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.1179/cos.1987.21.1.44](https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.1179/cos.1987.21.1.44) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/5 "2026-02-07T01:54:42Z")
The market for bathing machines died out after the last of the snarks was hunted down in the late nineteenth century. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/6 "2026-02-07T02:07:51Z")
Didn’t they turn a bunch of these bathing machines into tiny hide-away cottages on beach coast lines? For ..whatever’s? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/7 "2026-02-07T11:51:14Z")
Seems like it … [History of beach huts](https://www.beachhuts.com/history-of-beach-huts) Those beach huts sell for stupid money these days. [Beach huts for sale.](https://www.beachhuts.com/beach-huts-for-sale.html) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/8 "2026-02-07T11:56:22Z")
I can’t imagine these things can last long. One powerful storm every ten years or so seems likely to wash them away. Maybe they are just easy to re-build. I don’t really know but it seems dodgy buying a place like that for whatever reason. They seem…impermanent. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-not-everyday-i-learn-something-new/1027445/9 "2026-02-07T14:19:55Z")
As with all things beach, it’s not the hut, it’s the spot underneath it you’re paying for. You’d be a fool to spend the money building something substantial.