DR FORBES SPECIFICATIONS ANTIQUE SGND GERMAN FLOATING BATH THERMOMETER, WD CASE

Description

SCARCE
'DR. FORBES SPECIFICATIONS'
LATE
19TH
to
EARLY 20TH CENTURY ANTIQUE SIGNED GERMAN GLASS FLOATING BATH
THERMOMETER
in
RETICULATED WOOD
HOUSING,
with
INCISED, LATHE-TURNED
WOOD HANDLE
&
INTACT
GLASS THERMOMETER
(Circa 1880-1900)
Late 19th to early 20th century
European antique
floating bath thermometers,
used to determine the safe, healthy temperature of heated bath water
for personal bathing
DIMENSIONS:
10 ¼" Length x 1" Width x 1" Depth
Weight:
2.4 oz.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Bathing, whether for cleanliness or for health reasons, wasn't a very common practice unfortunately in
Colonial
Am
er
ica
and in the nascent
Republic
of the
United S
tates of
America,
or even in its anglophone
E
n
g
l
i
s
h
forefathers in
G
r
e
a
t
B
r
i
t
a
i
n
.
The use of superficial 'bathing' or washing with wet cloths, amounted to a 'poor man's bath.' Suffice to say, early
Ame
ric
ans
and their
B
r
i
t
i
s
h
counterparts were quite odiferous and their often ripe, sweat-influenced smell, was only disguised by the use of perfumes when available and depending on what social class you belonged to. This bath thermometer is a kind of marker and milestone, indicating a sudden and abrupt change in attitudes, when it came to personal hygiene and what was to become the quite common practice of 'bathing' in heated water, with the use of soap (animal fat and lye.) This is where this floating bath tube thermometer, consisting of a routered body and lathe-turned, incised ring bulbous handle, with a blown glass upright glass thermometer with printed degree scale, located inside the glass tube's structure. This piece was produced in the
late 19th century
and is
circa 1878-1888.
It was produced in
Ger
ma
ny
for export and the international marketplace. It's a rather simple, rudimentary mercury-in-glass thermometer designed for determining when bath water is at a healthy temperature. The black ink printed scale extends from
0 to 130 degrees
and is marked
'Dr. Forbes Specifications,'
as well as
'FREEZING,' 'COLD BATH,' 'COOL,' 'TEM,' 'TEPID,' 'WARM'
and
HOT.'
The reference seen is to
John Forbes,
a
Sco
tt
ish
physician
who recommended therapeutic bathing.
DESCRIPTION:
Intact, complete and a wonderful
late 19th to early 20th century
Ge
rm
an
antique floating bath thermometer
in estate-fresh, as-found and untouched condition. With a naturally dry, matte wood finish, it was once used when bathing and baths first came into vogue, saving most
B
r
i
t
i
s
h
and
Ame
ri
cans
literally from themselves and their own unfortunate, odiferous stench. This revolutionary personal hygiene tool, helped determine the safe, hygienic temperature of bath water, where the user could then safely bathe, with the help of animal fat and lye soap. Bathing, where the body is submerged in heated water, was simply not the standard practice in
G
r
e
a
t
B
r
i
t
a
i
n
,
the
Ame
ri
can
colonies or then later in the nascent
Ame
ri
can
Republic.
People took 'poor man's baths,' cleaned themselves in rivers, ponds and streams (weather permitting) and sponge bathed, often disguising their sweat influenced body odor, with the use of floral oils and perfumes, often at great cost and principally used by the wealthy and patrician class. This little
Ge
rm
an
floating thermometer
therefore, clearly improved the social and personal interactions of its day and most likely made romance, well, let's just say, slightly less odiferous and loathsome and quantifiably and most undoubtedly, more thrilling and even exhilarating. Simply awesome.
CONDITION:
Good to Very Good overall antique condition.