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A Look Back at the Beginning of Clawfoot Tubs

Up until the 1800s in the US, most water pipes were made of hollowed trees. Cast iron pipe imported from England had one of its first installations in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. By the early 1800s, cast iron production began domestically in New Jersey.

In 1848, the National Public Health Act was passed creating a plumbing code for the US. Almost simultaneously in 1883, both the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company (now American Standard) and Kohler began the process of enameling cast iron bathtubs to form a smooth interior surface. Kohler’s first clawfoot tub was advertised as a “horse trough/hog scalder, when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub.”

These tubs soon became mass-produced as they were recognized as having an extremely sanitary surface that was easy to clean, thus preventing the spread of bacteria and diseases. The end of World War I brought with it a construction boom in the US. Bathrooms were fitted with a toilet, sink, and bathtub – mostly clawfoot bathtubs. But even in 1921, only one percent of homes in the US had indoor plumbing.

Outhouses were still the norm in rural America. The Sears catalog, with its uncoated, absorbent pages, was a popular form of toilet paper often found hanging inside the outhouse. Over time, the once popular clawfoot tub morphed into a built-in tub with apron front. This enclosed style afforded much easier maintenance of the bathroom and with the emergence of colored sanitary ware, more design options for the homeowner.

It was Crane Company that introduced colored bathroom fixtures to the US market in 1928. The trend today, though, is shifting back to the elegant style and luxury of a soaking clawfoot tub. Homeowners are tearing out their dime-a-dozen built-in tubs and replacing them with reproduction roll rim footed tubs. Now available in both the classic cast iron or lighter weight acrylic styles, clawfoot bathtubs are produced in a variety of styles and foot finish options.