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Victorian hydropathic
establishments mushroomed after the introduction into the British Isles of the cold water
cure made popular on the continent by the disciples of Vincent Preissnitz. The rigour of the
treatments—the wet sheet bath and the icy rain bath (shower)—was an obvious
target for humorists. Contemporary caricaturists, such as Thomas Onwhyn, produced several
series of drawings depicting the tortures to which patients were subjected. These were
later reproduced as postcards, and since they were often posted by those 'tortured' to
their loved ones at home, hydros (such as Smedley's at Matlock Bank in Derbyshire) must
have taken their humour with good grace while profitably selling the cards in great numbers
to their 'victims'.
Later, when hydropathic establishments added Turkish baths to their facilities, further
cartoons were inevitable. These two, from a set of six, are dated 11 June 1861 and
signed with Onwhyn's characteristic monogram.
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The sudatorium |
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The shampoo |
Not all
illustrations poked fun at the bathers. Mr Punch's visit to a Turkish bath in
1861 was recorded in a relatively straightforward manner.
Being anxious to
preserve our figure
we take a Turkish bath |
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And when, five years later,
George Du Maurier drew At the Turkish bath, such establishments were already
becoming popular and were to be found in an increasing number of towns and cities around
the country. Du Maurier's point is made by linking here-now with there-later; to him, at
least, the Turkish bath was no longer itself considered unusual or in any way ridiculous.
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Smith
(abstractedly).
"I say, Brown, come and Dine with us to-day, to meet Robinson and his Sisters. No
fuss or Ceremony, you know! Come just as you are!!!". |
Originally
published in May 1866, this caricature was still considered amusing enough to be included in a series of
humorous postcards published by Evelyn Wrench some time between 1900 and (probably) 1902.
The known
difficulty of withstanding the excessively high temperatures to be found in some
establishments was referenced, to good effect, in Tenniel's
political cartoon, The Turkish bath. This appeared in 1876 shortly after
Gladstone had published a pamphlet describing the atrocities
committed by Ottoman forces in subduing the Bulgarian uprising. He attacked
Disraeli's government for turning a blind eye to the massacres so as not to weaken
Turkey's rôle as a counterweight to the growing influence of Russia. The
pamphlet sold 40,000 copies in a week, and 200,000 by the end of the month.'
Attendant. "How do you feel after your bath, my
Lord?"
Lord B.... "Pretty comfortable, thank you!—(Aside. Lost some
weight, I fancy.) —You made it so confoundedly HOT for me ! ! !" |
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By
the middle of the twentieth century, when many more people had washing and
bathing facilities in their own homes, the idea that some people could
actually enjoy sweating in a hot room, be refreshed by a dip in a cold
plunge pool, or feel more relaxed after a massage, was still, in some eyes,
as funny as it was a century earlier—and perhaps, to the uninitiated, will
remain so for ever.
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On the brink |
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For his
sins |
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Look at
the clock |
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The ordeal
by steam |
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Ferocious
friction |
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Ready to serve
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Terrors of
Turkish bathing:
sample sufferings, hot and cold, we not only endure, but pay for |
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Artist's captions
and text |
These drawings
were made (at about the half way point between opening of the first Victorian
Turkish bath and today) by the
American illustrator George Luks. It is interesting to compare them with those of Thomas Onwhyn published 65 years
earlier, for it is clear that Onwhyn is the more incisive.
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