History of the Bathtub           
           
The use of baths as a means of ensuring physical cleanliness was first introduced by the ancient Romans. During these times, bathing was a public event. A bathtub was not something one possesed in one's home. Time passed and the methods of bathing fluctuated between personal and public aspects. As people realized the medical needs associated with bathing, it shifted from a social affair to a very personal one. Public-centered bathings filtered out of lifestyles quickly.            
The need to be clean has not always been as pressing as we know it to be today. In fact, the United States is one of the few countries where most citizens (who possess the means) consider a daily bathing to be a necessity. Actually, that bathing has today become a shower. A bath is now a way to relax, not something you do before going to work in the morning. So you see, bathing (in a bathtub, that is) is a ritual that has lasted the test of time and been preserved to be now, almost what it was years ago.