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Victorian Turkish baths
The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, is then washed, often massaged, and has a cold wash or shower. It can also mean, especially when used in the plural, an establishment where such a bath is available.
Hot-air baths of the same type, built after Queen Victoria's reign (1837–1901), are known as Victorian-style Turkish baths, and are also covered in this article.
The Victorian Turkish bath became popular during the latter third of the queen's reign. It retained this popularity during the Edwardian years (1901–1914), first as a therapy and a means of personal cleansing, and then as a place for relaxation and enjoyment. It was very soon copied in several parts of the British Empire, in the United States of America, and in some Western European countries. Victorian Turkish baths were opened as small commercial businesses, and later by those local authorities that saw them as being permitted under the Baths and Washhouses Act 1846. They were also found in hotels, hydropathic establishments (hydros) and hospitals, in the Victorian asylum and the Victorian workhouse, in the houses of the wealthy, in private members' clubs, and in ocean liners for those travelling overseas. They were even provided for farm animals and urban workhorses.
Some establishments provided additional facilities such as steam rooms and, from the second half of the 20th century, Finnish saunas. These complemented the Turkish bath, but were not part of the Turkish bath process, any more than were the services of, for example, the barber, visiting physician, or chiropodist (currently more usually known as a podiatrist), who might be available in some 19th-century establishments.
The use of Victorian Turkish baths began to decline after World War I and accelerated after World War II. In the 21st century, there are very few Victorian Turkish bath buildings extant, and fewer still remain open.
The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of hot-air bath that originated in Ireland in 1856. It was explicitly identified as such in the 1990s and then named and defined to necessarily distinguish it from the baths which had for centuries, especially in Europe, been loosely, and often incorrectly, called "Turkish" baths. These were usually Islamic hammams, but during the latter part of the 20th century, steam and vapour baths of various types also came to be referred to as "Turkish" baths. The term has even been used to describe women's baths in the Ottoman Imperial Harem, most famously by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and as the title—or as the supposed subject—of orientalist paintings.
When the first Victorian Turkish baths were being built, there was much discussion about how the bath should be named. Because it was based on the baths of the ancient Romans and not on the Islamic hammam, many argued that it should be called the Roman bath or the Irish-Roman or Anglo-Roman bath. Some bath proprietors felt strongly about this and named their baths accordingly. But the new baths finally became known as Turkish baths because, for many years, that is where western travellers had first come across, and frequently written about, the 'exotic' hot-air baths of earlier times.
In a Victorian Turkish bath, bathers relax in a series of increasingly hot dry rooms, usually two or three, until they sweat profusely. This progression can be repeated, interspersed with showers, or a dip in a cold plunge pool. It is then followed by a full body wash and massage, together called shampooing. Finally, no less important, is a period of relaxation in the cooling-room, preferably for at least an hour.
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Victorian Turkish baths
The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, is then washed, often massaged, and has a cold wash or shower. It can also mean, especially when used in the plural, an establishment where such a bath is available.
Hot-air baths of the same type, built after Queen Victoria's reign (1837–1901), are known as Victorian-style Turkish baths, and are also covered in this article.
The Victorian Turkish bath became popular during the latter third of the queen's reign. It retained this popularity during the Edwardian years (1901–1914), first as a therapy and a means of personal cleansing, and then as a place for relaxation and enjoyment. It was very soon copied in several parts of the British Empire, in the United States of America, and in some Western European countries. Victorian Turkish baths were opened as small commercial businesses, and later by those local authorities that saw them as being permitted under the Baths and Washhouses Act 1846. They were also found in hotels, hydropathic establishments (hydros) and hospitals, in the Victorian asylum and the Victorian workhouse, in the houses of the wealthy, in private members' clubs, and in ocean liners for those travelling overseas. They were even provided for farm animals and urban workhorses.
Some establishments provided additional facilities such as steam rooms and, from the second half of the 20th century, Finnish saunas. These complemented the Turkish bath, but were not part of the Turkish bath process, any more than were the services of, for example, the barber, visiting physician, or chiropodist (currently more usually known as a podiatrist), who might be available in some 19th-century establishments.
The use of Victorian Turkish baths began to decline after World War I and accelerated after World War II. In the 21st century, there are very few Victorian Turkish bath buildings extant, and fewer still remain open.
The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of hot-air bath that originated in Ireland in 1856. It was explicitly identified as such in the 1990s and then named and defined to necessarily distinguish it from the baths which had for centuries, especially in Europe, been loosely, and often incorrectly, called "Turkish" baths. These were usually Islamic hammams, but during the latter part of the 20th century, steam and vapour baths of various types also came to be referred to as "Turkish" baths. The term has even been used to describe women's baths in the Ottoman Imperial Harem, most famously by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and as the title—or as the supposed subject—of orientalist paintings.
When the first Victorian Turkish baths were being built, there was much discussion about how the bath should be named. Because it was based on the baths of the ancient Romans and not on the Islamic hammam, many argued that it should be called the Roman bath or the Irish-Roman or Anglo-Roman bath. Some bath proprietors felt strongly about this and named their baths accordingly. But the new baths finally became known as Turkish baths because, for many years, that is where western travellers had first come across, and frequently written about, the 'exotic' hot-air baths of earlier times.
In a Victorian Turkish bath, bathers relax in a series of increasingly hot dry rooms, usually two or three, until they sweat profusely. This progression can be repeated, interspersed with showers, or a dip in a cold plunge pool. It is then followed by a full body wash and massage, together called shampooing. Finally, no less important, is a period of relaxation in the cooling-room, preferably for at least an hour.