The Mystique of Clawfoot Tubs

One era's dream is another era's drudgery. Exhibit A: the clawfoot bathtub. Perceptions of the clawfoot have changed dramatically since its origins in the late 19th century - sometimes within the space of just a decade. In fact, the mystique that the clawfoot tub possesses today might say less about the tub than it does about our own attitudes toward bathing.

The Rise and Fall of the Clawfoot Tub

It's generally taken for granted that bathing has always been synonymous first and foremost with cleanliness. Yet throughout the 19th century and the beginnings of the 20th, health and sanitation were the ideals that prevailed in the American public's attitudes toward bathing and bathroom decor.

"Much of the bathing in the 19th century had little to do with cleanliness," Jane Powell and Linda Svendsen write in their book Bungalow Bathrooms. "Instead, it had to do with health. There was widespread belief that water could cure all kinds of ills, either by drinking it or being immersed in it in various ways."

Germ theory entered the public consciousness at the end of the 19th century, and with it arose a greater concern for sanitation. Sparkling white bathrooms were the decorative ideal - reinforced, as described in the book The Bathroom, The Kitchen, and the Aesthetics of Waste, by magazine ads and articles depicting hospital-white bathrooms as an ideal of perfect sanitation.

Though commonly associated with the Victorian era, clawfoot tubs actually reached the height of their popularity between 1910 and 1920. What did the clawfoot in was not just the waning of Victorian aesthetic ideals, but the combination of more reliable plumbing and an increasing distaste for dirty bathrooms.

Clawfoot bathtubs were replaced throughout the 1920s by Art Deco pedestal tubs and enclosed double-wall tubs that eliminated the need for under-the-tub cleaning, a common complaint that was leveled against the clawfoot.

A government report produced in 1932 in association with a conference on home ownership called by President Herbert Hoover summed up the clawfoot's then-legacy: "The free-standing tub is well-nigh extinct, for which the American housewife is truly grateful. It was a great dirt catcher and it was a very conscientious person who ever thoroughly cleaned the floor under the tub ..."

The Resurrection of the Clawfoot Tub

A lot has changed since 1932. Showers are no longer thought of as "invigorating" and "energizing" experiences more appropriate for men than women. Nationwide access to reliable indoor plumbing has made bathroom cleaning easy - even under the tub. With the shower now a common daily substitute for a regular bath, clawfoot bathtubs and their freestanding cousins have become synonymous not with cleanliness, but with luxury and relaxation.

Our taste for vintage style has also resurrected an appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of the claw foot tub. A claw foot tub embodies the elegance of Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture, transforming the modern bathroom from a utilitarian space to a gorgeous evocation of a bygone era.