Slowly learning the principles of hygiene
It was to take more than a hundred years to shake off the preconceived ideas about bathing and its dangers. In 1852 therefore, Napoleon III made it known, with great fanfare, that he was paying out of his own money for three public bath and washhouse establishments to be built in the poorer districts of the capital.
In the late 1960s, a large number of poor workers lived in shanty towns on the outskirts of the cities. Little by little, they were rehoused in low-rent apartment buildings with bathrooms. Many of these families, unused to such luxuries, preferred to use the bathroom to keep poultry or plant potatoes in the bathtub—watering was no problem!
Along with the Industrial Revolution came public education and numerous publications encouraging the working classes to pay attention to their health, both body and mind. Godin, whose firm made the cast-iron stoves found in many French homes, had a washhouse and swimming pool built in his "Familistère", a community housing complex for his workers. Numerous municipal bath and shower establishments were built in the first half of the 20th century.
