Throughout the ages, especially since the days of ancient Rome, people have loved the calm pleasures and therapeutic benefits of soaking in warm water. People, everywhere, feel an affinity with water and love to engage in the simple pleasures of soaking. The Romans were brilliant in popularizing recreational activities around water and tubs and to this very day, we are all very aware of the healing effects of warm water. Barrelmaking or cooperage goes back thousands of years. It is an age-old tradition and cooperage is still appreciated, today, for storing liquids such as wines and spirits.
Very early on, cedar and oak were used for their natural resistance to decay and the way the wood expands when soaked. Cooperage ushered in the earliest forms of those wonderful hot tubs.
The 1970s literally burst upon the home leisure scene and plastics became the new woods. Confusing though this was, people lost no time in forgetting all about beautiful, natural woods. If you heard the word “spa”, the words “hot tub” would soon to follow. People were just beginning to get used to the luxury of a good soak, even at home. Although people tried to become accustomed to the new ‘wood’, for many of them, this notion simply didn’t take off. They wanted the feel and properties of real wood and nothing but the real thing would do. Wood was welcomed back whole-heartedly and people, everywhere, relished the joys of hot tubbin again.