Baths

The earliest known examples of baths were found in Crete, and date from the mid-2^nd Century BC.  For many centuries, the most common type were public bath houses, rather than individual baths or bathtubs.  In Britain during the 19^th Century cleanliness was inherently linked to the Victorian ideal, after all ‘cleanliness is next to Godliness’, as they say!  When the links between dirt and the spread of disease started to become clear, the use of soap became widespread and, in turn, mass marketed.  During this time individual bathtubs, located in people's homes, also rose in popularity dramatically.  In the early 20^th Century large soap manufactures started sponsoring radio dramas for publicity, this is where we get the term ‘soap opera’ from today.