# When Did Bathing Machines Go Out of Use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001 "2008-12-20T00:05:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/1 "2008-12-20T00:05:18Z")
I was watching an old movie, about a family in 1830’s England. There was a scene at the beach, and it showed these curious “bathing machines”. They were basically little outhouse-like structures, mounted on a horse-drawn cart, which had a set of at the back. The purpose was to transport a lady to the water, so that she could change into a bathing costume, and walk down the steps (into the water) unseen by any men. I thought they were pretty weird things. Anyway, when dd these things cease to be used. Do any survive? Finally, what would have happend if the bikini had been invented in 1800? Would the Victorians have been less sexually opressed? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/2 "2008-12-20T00:16:19Z")
Actually during the 1920s America was getting very liberal, but it caused a huge backlash. Remember people like Mae West were famous for blantant sex. This caused a major backlash with the movie industry using self-censorship. Mae West survived by, instead of using sex, she became famous for using sexual innuendo. It wouln’t be till the 1960s when the culture reached the point it was in the 20s, it slid back that much ---
**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:** [December 20, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/3 "2008-12-20T00:54:15Z")
This just shows that if you hang around on the Dope long enough, all questions will be answered. I always wondered were the line from Iolanthe - “It was something between a large bathing machine, and a very small second-class carriage” meant, and now I understand. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/4 "2008-12-20T02:22:23Z")
Bathing Machines were around at the end of the 19th century. Lewis Carroll mentions them in both the Alice books and in “The Hunting of the Snark” (“The Snark had a fondness for Bathing Machines…”)I would never have known what they were, had not Martin Gardner explained them in The Annotated Alice and The Annotated Hunting of the Snark. Unfortunately, he didn’t say when they went out of fashion. All I could think, reading about them, was that it seemed to be a good way to guarantee that you get horse poop in the water. At least, Gardner seems to indicate that the horses drew the machines directly out and in. If they used a rope and pulley arrangement, the horse could stay on land, but I think it would be mechanically simpler just to let the horse pull it out. I’d rather accept the possible embarassment of being seen on my way into the water than have to didge horse detritus once I got in. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/5 "2008-12-20T12:34:07Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > They were basically little outhouse-like structures, mounted on a horse-drawn cart, which had a set of at the back. A set of _ **what** _ at the back? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/6 "2008-12-20T12:36:50Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > A set of _ **what** _ at the back? 😕 “steps”? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/7 "2008-12-20T14:31:24Z")
Google Search [http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Bathing+Machines&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Bathing+Machines&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2) Enlarge the pic that takes your fancy. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/8 "2008-12-20T20:32:29Z")
If you’ve ever seen the movie _Mrs Brown_, at one point Judi Dench (as Queen Victoria) uses one. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/9 "2008-12-20T20:35:02Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > A set of _ **what** _ at the back? 😕 Doors. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/10 "2008-12-20T21:39:30Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > If you’ve ever seen the movie _Mrs Brown_, at one point Judi Dench (as Queen Victoria) uses one. And her male servants simply swam buck naked (at a seperate beach of course :o). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/11 "2008-12-20T22:14:05Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > And her male servants simply swam buck naked (at a seperate beach of course :o). One of whom was Gerard Butler, IIRC. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/12 "2008-12-20T23:08:53Z")
So then, was the next step those teensy little beach houses? IIRC, Edna used one for changing into her bathing costume in _The Awakening_. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/13 "2008-12-21T00:33:30Z")
I find the Victorians obsession with (avoiding) nudity pretty weird. So, in1850 or so, going for a swim involved : -hanging (in a “bathing machine” from a ful dress to a “bathing costume” -having the bathing machine hauled into the water -open door, walk doen steps -climb back in, chanhe back What were these people afraid of? Frankly, I’m glad we don’t do this stuff tday. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/14 "2008-12-21T01:12:34Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > What were these people afraid of? Lust, rapine, and riots in the street. > [@](#): > > Frankly, I’m glad we don’t do this stuff tday. Our society today is exactly what they were afraid would happen. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/15 "2008-12-21T03:37:34Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Our society today is exactly what they were afraid would happen. What, people dancing naked in the streets during a celebration of sexual adventurism? Why would they be afraid of that? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/16 "2008-12-21T03:40:42Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Actually during the 1920s America was getting very liberal, but it caused a huge backlash. Remember people like Mae West were famous for blantant sex. This caused a major backlash with the movie industry using self-censorship. Mae West survived by, instead of using sex, she became famous for using sexual innuendo. > > It wouln’t be till the 1960s when the culture reached the point it was in the 20s, it slid back that much But it never slid back to the bathing machine, did it? Everything I’ve read about them states that they were pre-First World War. I wonder whether the psychological effects of the First World War, such as the 1920’s-style “liberalism”, were the first blow, then when things went conservative during the Great Depression, people couldn’t afford them? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/17 "2008-12-21T10:40:25Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I find the Victorians obsession with (avoiding) nudity pretty weird. So, in1850 or so, going for a swim involved : > -hanging (in a “bathing machine” from a ful dress to a “bathing costume” > -having the bathing machine hauled into the water > -open door, walk doen steps > -climb back in, chanhe back > What were these people afraid of? Frankly, I’m glad we don’t do this stuff tday. Mrs Patrick Campbell, Victorian actress and friend of George Bernard Shaw, is reputed to have once said: “I don’t mind where people make love, so long as they don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/18 "2008-12-21T11:05:10Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > If you’ve ever seen the movie _Mrs Brown_, at one point Judi Dench (as Queen Victoria) uses one. Not sure what show I saw it on but The Queen’s bathing machine was on tracks and was winched down and back. Some of the mechanism is still visible. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/19 "2008-12-21T14:48:28Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Mrs Patrick Campbell, Victorian actress and friend of George Bernard Shaw, is reputed to have once said: “I don’t mind where people make love, so long as they don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses.” Ergo, it was the popularization of the automobile in the 1920s, and the decline in the use of horses for transport, that led to the libertine attitudes of the Roaring Twenties and later decades. With fewer horses around, women were free to wear shorter and shorter dresses, and men felt emboldened to engage in public displays of affection. I think there’s a doctoral thesis here! “The moderating effect of horses on human morality.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bathing-machines-go-out-of-use/478001/20 "2008-12-21T15:21:10Z")
No. As the great philosopher Harold Hill pointed out, there was only one cause for all this depravation: \*\*Pool. \*\* Then, You Got Trouble!