The Fake News of 1917: The Origin of the Bathtub

The Fake News of 1917: The Origin of the Bathtub
Illustration of Thompson's bathtub, published in the Chronicle-Telegram on Nov. 18, 1935, nine years after Mencken's confession. Public Domain
Jeffrey A. Tucker
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Commentary
On Dec. 28, 1917, the New York Evening Mail carried a fascinating article on the history of the bathtub in the United States, which seems to have gone through an absorbing series of technological iterations and public controversies concerning good taste. Even the medical community got involved to warn of the bathtub’s threat to personal hygiene.
Jeffrey A. Tucker
Jeffrey A. Tucker
Author
Jeffrey A. Tucker is the founder and president of the Brownstone Institute and the author of many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press, as well as 10 books in five languages, most recently “Liberty or Lockdown.” He is also the editor of “The Best of Ludwig von Mises.” He writes a daily column on economics for The Epoch Times and speaks widely on the topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture. He can be reached at [email protected]