Jacqueline S. Wie, in ~obnalof Social History (summer 1986), Car-negie-MeUon Univ., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15213.
'Cleanliness is next to godliness," advised John Wesley, the 18th-century Methodist. Wesley notwithstanding, notes Wilkie, a sociologist at Central Michigan University, regular bathing was a rarity for the average Arneri- can as recently as a century ago.
During the early 19th century, indoor plumbing was next to nonexis- tent. Although a few hotels (Boston's Tremont House, New York...