The Green County Historical Society has two antique portable bath tubs; one was homemade and constructed of aluminum, and the one shown here is made of tin.
The bath tub has a brass plaque on the front which indicates that it was made by the Folding Bath Tub Company in Marshall, Mich., and patented on May 20, 1880. The tub measures 26 inches in diameter, 31 inches in depth and the height goes from 24 inches in the front to 28 inches in the back.
The bath tub has wood trim on the top and the tin was made to look like it was wood. The tub has a small built-in seat to allow one to sit while bathing. The front of the bath tub also has a metal plug with chain for removing the water after use.
Portable bath tubs made of tin and copper were widely used in the middle of the 19th century; however, they lost favor with the introduction of plumbing in residences.
In the latter part of the 19th century, most of the bath tubs were made of mass-produced cast-iron baths lined with vitreous enamel and raised on decorative feet.
- Submitted by John Glynn of the Green County Historical Society
The bath tub has a brass plaque on the front which indicates that it was made by the Folding Bath Tub Company in Marshall, Mich., and patented on May 20, 1880. The tub measures 26 inches in diameter, 31 inches in depth and the height goes from 24 inches in the front to 28 inches in the back.
The bath tub has wood trim on the top and the tin was made to look like it was wood. The tub has a small built-in seat to allow one to sit while bathing. The front of the bath tub also has a metal plug with chain for removing the water after use.
Portable bath tubs made of tin and copper were widely used in the middle of the 19th century; however, they lost favor with the introduction of plumbing in residences.
In the latter part of the 19th century, most of the bath tubs were made of mass-produced cast-iron baths lined with vitreous enamel and raised on decorative feet.
- Submitted by John Glynn of the Green County Historical Society