Otis House

Patent Drawing Champoo Bath

This patent drawing was submitted to the Patent Office in Washington D.C. in 1833 and shows how the steam bath worked. A patient would enter the chamber and sit inside the tent, with the sides pulled tight around him.  Water was heated to a steam in the right hand tank and the steam traveled into the left hand tank through a pipe, where it mixed with essential oils, vegetable powders and herbs. Then medicated steam would then enter the tent where the patient was said to benefit from their healing properties as the steam seeped into their skin through the pores.