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July 1910. Postal Telegraph Co. messengers, 283 Broadway. "The boys make good use of the shower baths." View full size. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine.
Photos like this tend to help young people relate to the past. My 19 YO daughter is a very talented photographer, who has sold quite a bit of her work. I have tried to get her interested in the history of photography, but she usually won't even look very hard at anything she thinks is old. I showed her this and asked her how old she thought it was. She guessed the 1990s, but said it looked like it could be now. She was amazed when I told her it was 100 years old.
I agree about the shower curtains! The need a good soaking in Clorox or Lysol, both of which they had by 1910.
I am guessing those two boys are probably the cleanest kids ever posted on shorpy! I can't imagine living in a time where people simply could not shower/bathe daily.
Everything old is new again. Just look at the showerhead - they're now being sold at high-end prices.
Look at the bottom edge of those shower curtains. That room needs a serious disinfecting. Ewww.
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