The Way It Used To Be: A Russian Bath

(Click on the image for a larger view)

Date and location unknown, purported to be a Russian bath. The clothing on the two men in the background, and the hairstyles of the fifteen naked men all suggest that this is indeed a Russian bath, most likely photographed in the 1910s or 1920s.

There is so much of historical interest here that I think the obviously posed nature of the photograph doesn't detract. Notice that the bath attendants (the two men giving the body scrubs, and the gentleman at the right giving a scalp massage) are just as naked as the bath patrons. Current laws in California require spa workers to partially clothed, which is just ridiculous. I can't count the number of times I've seen spa workers naked in the facilities, only to later see them with shorts on when giving a body scrub, then naked again while showering after the body scrub is done.

This image has been available on the Internet for quite a while, but the version seen here may be the largest and clearest available.

The additional views below are from another source.