When thinking of history of any sort you probably wouldn't expect a tin bathtub to spring to mind, yet somehow nearly every single St. Olaf history book mentions the first bathtub. The tub was made of tin and located in Old Main, where boys could purchase tickets to pay for a bath. The price was 5¢ for one wash, or 25¢ for six.
This bathtub caused a scandal when a trustee heard that it was made of marble, but he was quite pleased to see that the tub was made of tin, and that the tickets made the investment quite economical for the school. Unfortunately the first bathtub was only permitted to be used by the college's male students. While this was rather sexist, reportedly some boys caught "the itch" from the bathtub, so perhaps the ladies were saved from that at least. (And also, as Teague always says, "We weren't as sexist as we could have been!")
Did the bathtub kill H.T. Ytterboe?
This is entirely speculation, but to inflate the self-importance of the bathtub, we like to think that it's possible the original bathtub played a part in the tragic passing of Professor H.T. Ytterboe. Professor Ytterboe was a man devoted to the college. He campaigned tirelessly to raise funds for the college, in addition to teaching classes, overseeing students, raising his own children, and playing on the school baseball team. When the 1903 scarlet fever epidemic broke out Professor Ytterboe stepped up and took care of the sick students, fumigating the bathrooms with formaldehyde every night. Tragically he later succumbed to death due to formaldehyde poisoning, for which there was no clear cure or medical treatment at the time. It is unclear if he died because he was fumigating the bathtub, but it is clear that he was deeply devoted to this institution and he gave his life in pursuit of protecting his students. Thank you, Professor Ytterboe.
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