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Turkish Baths
The baths were opened on
26 October 1886 by Thomas Fleming, who was already proprietor of the Turkish
baths at 90, Princes Street.
Mrs Fielding opened the baths for
women on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings between 9.00 and 12.oo. Apart
from this, the baths opened from 6.00 am to 9.00 pm for men.
The cooling-room shown
in the cut
above (taken from a contemporary
advertisement) seems to indicate, even allowing
for the exaggeration typical of such illustrations, that the baths
must have been capable of holding a reasonable number of bathers.
According to an
advertorial appearing in the first decade of the 1900s, the proprietor, William
Fielding, had previously been principal of the bath
department at the Moffatt Hydropathic Establishment, while the baths
exhibit a perfection of plan and appointment which leaves nothing to be
desired. All the decorative work has been carried out in a very pleasing
and appropriate style, and in the hot-rooms the artistic effect of the tiled
walls and mosaic floors will not pass unnoticed by visitors.
As was so frequently the case, the
opening hours for women were less than those for men but, unusually, women
were able to make special arrangements with Mrs Fielding if they wished to
use the baths after 9.00 in the evening.
An innovation at this establishment
was
the Turkish morning wash. It is not quite clear
exactly what this was, but according to the advertorial, it was,
well adapted to the convenience of
gentlemen who have not sufficient time to spare to go through the process of
the Turkish bath. Many avail themselves of this luxurious form of morning
ablution, and testify to its invigorating and refreshing effect.
The original page
includes footnotes,
and thumbnail pictures which can be enlarged.
All the enlarged images, listed and linked below, can also be printed.
cooling-room at 12 Stafford
Street, Edinburgh
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