Where it comes from?
Where does the Whirlpool come from?
Around 1900, seven brothers named Jacuzzi emigrated from Italy to the United States. They eventually settled on the West Coast in Berkeley, California and became machinists. One of them, Rachele, began making aircraft propellers, inspired by an airshow he saw at the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in nearby San Francisco. He and his brothers created an aircraft manufacturing company in Berkeley called "Jacuzzi Bros.," which remained in business until 1976, although their product line changed over the years.
In 1925, as a result of a crash of one of their planes in 1921 en route between Yosemite and San Francisco, which killed brother Giocondo, Jacuzzi Bros. stopped making aircraft. Rachele turned the company's know-how in making hydraulic aircraft pumps to the manufacture of a new kind of deep well agricultural pump.
In 1948, brother Candido used the company's expertise in pumps to develop a submersible bathtub pump for his son who had contracted rheumatoid arthritis in 1943, at the age of 15 months, leaving the boy crippled and distorted with pain. The boy received regular hydrotherapy treatments at local hospitals but Candido could not stand to see his son suffering between the therapeutic visits. He realized that the water pumps Jacuzzi Brothers was making for industrial use could be adapted to give his son soothing whirlpool treatments in the tub at home. Jacuzzi Bros. marketed this pump, model J-300, in 1955. The son, Kenneth Jacuzzi, eventually came to run the company. During this period, Jack Benny was hired as a spokesman for Jacuzzi.
In 1955, the firm decided to market the Jacuzzi whirlpool bath as a therapeutic aid, selling it in drugstores and bath supply shops. To generate a little publicity for the unknown product portable Jacuzzis were included in the gifts showered on contestants on TV's Queen for a Day. It was pitched as relief for the worn-down housewife but when Hollywood stars like Randolph Scott and Jayne Mansfield, who were decidedly not worn-down, began offering testimonials the Jacuzzi started to acquire its legendary allure.
In 1968, Roy Jacuzzi invented and brought to market the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath by incorporating jets into the sides of the tub. A new industry and era of whirlpool bathing pleasure was born. The Jacuzzi became a symbol of the sybaritic lifestyle. Hundreds of thousands of Jacuzzi portables were installed, both indoors and outdoors, at recreation centers and private homes. No self-respecting hotel suite could be rented without a Jacuzzi and in many places a Jacuzzi is standard in new homes.
But the whirlpool bath was still mostly a sideline at Jacuzzi Brothers. By far the bulk of Jacuzzi revenues came from sales of water pumps, marine jets and swimming pool equipment.
The J-300 pump was portable and could be placed in any bath enclosure. The medical community immediately saw the benefit of this product for their hydro-therapeutic programs. Physical Therapists and Orthopedists would prescribe their use in clinics and in the home. Hollywood celebrities began making personal use of them, bringing further popularity
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