The hosepipe shower (le grand douche)
Vichy, France, in the late 1890s
< Postcard published by «La Cigogne», pl. de
l'Hôtel-de-Ville, Vichy
The hosepipe douche was one of a variety of showers and douches used in hydropathic establishments. They would not have been acceptable in an asylum like The Retreat at this late date as their use would not have been approved by the Commissioners in Lunacy.
However, the treatment books for 1853 show that even here hosepipe showers were frequently resorted to as a means of quieting patients, the water temperature and pressure being solely determined by whichever attendant administered them.
This item is from the collection of the Victorian Turkish Baths Project
This page enlarges an image or adds to the information found below:
The Retreat, York
Victorian Turkish Baths: their origin, development, and gradual decline
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