Contributed by Maine Historical Society
- Item 100163
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Description
Made in Boston, this hand shower was found in the Wadsworth-Longfellow house in Portland and may have been a gift from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to his family.
A slightly smaller cylinder with an attached air chamber fits into the larger handled cylinder. The bottom of the inside cylinder is perforated with a series of holes. The user covers the small hole in the air chamber and lowers the internal cylinder into the larger one, permitting water to be drawn up into it the small cylinder.
The user then removes the smaller cylinder, uncovers the hole, and the water comes out of the small holes.
Longfellow learned about the therapeutic benefits of bathing during his studies in Germany in the 1830s. He sponsored family members to visit a spa in Brattleboro, Vermont, where they could take "the water cure.'
About This Item
- Title: Longfellow family hand shower, Portland, ca. 1846
- Creator: L. V. Badger, Boston
- Creation Date: circa 1846
- Subject Date: circa 1846
- Location: Portland, Cumberland County, ME
- Media: Tin, paint
- Dimensions: 23.5 cm x 27.5 cm x 18.5 cm
- Local Code: A85-95
- Object Type: Physical Object
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Well-being
- Wadsworth-Longfellow House (Portland, Me.)
- Longfellow family--Health
- Pierce, Anne Longfellow, 1810-1901--Associated objects
- Washtubs
- Containers
- Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882--Homes and haunts--Maine--Portland
- Wadsworth, Peleg, 1748-1829--Homes and haunts--Maine--Portland
- Hygiene
- Baths
People
For more information about this item, contact:
Maine Historical Society485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website
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