Nothing is known about these Turkish baths except that they were open for business—in Mason City, Iowa, USA—probably early in the twentieth century, or possibly even at the end of the nineteenth.

The fact that we know about them at all reminds us of how historians—thanks to the efforts of associations such as the Ephemera Society—have increasingly come to realise the value of such ephemeral objects, especially throwaway print materials. For they can give us a clue, perhaps the only clue, leading us to something which might be worth investigating further.

Anyone out there in Mason City who can help us?

This item is from the collection of the Victorian Turkish Baths Project