Recently in our blog we shared some of the science-y findings about what’s exactly in the Pluto Water, based on info from a 1910s-era resort pamphlet that included a chemical analysis of our area’s famous H2O.
Some of the other stuff in that pamphlet is worth a closer look, too. Keep in mind: we’re talking about the 1910s era here, so this pamphlet was the website of its time. Yelp reviews and Google image searches weren’t on anyone’s radar. This pamphlet (and maybe word of mouth) may have been the only may have been all you had to go on before taking a trip to French Lick.
Some of the highlights from inside this pamphlet:
The Golf Experience
Back then, the Tom Bendelow Course was an 18-hole layout, with part of the course immediately adjacent to the hotel (near where the casino is today). The present-day Activities Center once served as the golf clubhouse.
"The location of the golf grounds permits one to golf under ideal conditions. The course is situated immediately adjoining the hotel – a hundred yard walk from the office brings you to the club house and first tee. … In addition to golf, guests enjoy tennis, baseball, trap shooting, horseback riding, motoring, bowling, billiards and pool.
French Lick Springs is an all-year-round resort. The mild climate and the sheltered location of the hotel make it possible to enjoy out-of-door life through the greater part of the winter, and there are but a few days when fresh air and exercise cannot be taken."
French Lick Springs Hotel, circa 1914, as depicted in a postcard.
The Hotel Experience
These were simpler times. Meaning it was standard to wear suits and dresses every day to the dining room. And those room rates (!)
"Concerts are given in the lobby by the hotel orchestra each morning, afternoon and evening; the programs include popular, semi-classic and classic selections and there is dancing every evening."
"The buildings are substantial, modern in every particular, and conveniently designed. There is not an inside or dark room in the hotel. Every bedchamber and parlor looks out upon the lawn, the garden or the forest.
Room Rates Per Day:
$4.00 to $4.50, rooms with running water.
$4.50 to $5.00, rooms with running water and toilet.
$5.00, $6.00, $7.00, $8.00, rooms with running water, toilet and tub."
"Most of the rooms are so arranged, that rooms with bath connect with rooms having running water and toilet and can be opened “en suite” as desired.
The management maintains a high standard in the quality of the cuisine, and directs the same care and attention to service. Quiet simplicity, perfect service, a varied and always attractive menu, make every meal in the large, light, airy dining room a pleasure."
And before farm-to-table was a thing, well, it really was a farm-to-table experience here. Guests could even visit the dairy farm that was on property.
"The hotel farm and dairy are points of interest which many of the guests avail themselves of the opportunity to visit. Finely bred cows, housed and cared for under the most hygienic conditions, compose the herd of over one hundred cattle which are the source of the milk supply. Fresh milk is delivered to the hotel kitchens twice each day. The farm supplies the greater portion of the vegetables used."
The sun parlor was a welcoming entrance to the spa.
The Spas
The spa/bath house was a crucial selling point, considering how much space in the pamphlet is dedicating to extolling the benefits of the mineral waters. It certainly paints a picture of extravagance.
"The Bath House, for beauty, convenience, equipment and efficiency, has no equal in America. On the left of the main corridor near the entrance are lounging, massage, hairdressing, manicuring rooms and barber shop. There are two large cooling rooms in each department subdivided by partitions of Florentine glass. At the end of the corridor is a sun parlor…the walls and ceilings of the rooms are artistically decorated in shades of brown and green. The floors are of Terrazzo and the woodwork in white enamel. Art glass windows, electroliers, furniture, draperies and rugs are in perfect harmony with the surroundings and give to these rooms an atmosphere of elegance and luxuriousness which must be seen to be appreciated.
The bath tubs are of special design and extremely large. The convenient arrangement of the treatment rooms enable the bather to pass from one room to another without exposure to draft. … Contiguous to the two rooms are the shampoo rooms, equipped with solid porcelain tables, showers, sprays and portable enamel stands. Each department is provided with a large Turkish hot room and with Russian and Pine Needle rooms. The ventilation in these rooms and throughout the entire bath department is such as to permit an entire change of air every ten minutes. … The continual incoming fresh air and the exhaustion of the vitiated atmosphere enable the bather to derive the fullest possible benefit without the sense of discomfort usually present."
Men and women had their own separate spas, each with heated pools — which must have been something of a luxury back in the day.
"In each of the (men’s and women’s spas) there is a large swimming pool. These are continually supplied with pure fresh water automatically heated to the desired temperature."
A spa treatment room
The spa touted hydrotherapy treatments supposedly ideal to target different afflictions — such as Vichy baths for nervous depression, and Nauheim baths for diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
"In many places, the baths are essentially confined to application of the particular medicinal water of that locality. It frequently happens that such are not suitable to the patient’s condition and it may be necessary to go from one place to another before finding relief. The French Lick baths combine practically every known hydro-therapeutic procedure. The Aix douche, so popular in Aix-les-Bains (a popular thermal spa in France), is a part of this special equipment. This treatment consists in the application of a large volume of water under low pressure, the bather being massaged under this continuous flow, which may be regulated to any desired temperature. These treatments are given in a sitting position or upon an inclined table and are especially efficacious in rheumatism and other painful affections of the muscles and joints.
While patrons at French Lick may obtain baths of ordinary temperature and moderate duration without prescription, special treatment and baths of high temperature or prolonged duration are given only under the supervision of the physicians in charge. … Without special attention to detail in bath administration, it is impossible to obtain the best results."
And “taking the waters” at French Lick meant consuming them as well, so the spa was a one-stop experience.
"French Lick Springs is now able to offer a combined bath and water cure second to none. The patrons will find here a happy union of the wonderfully efficient mineral waters and bathing facilities of the most varied description so that it is unnecessary to take a course of baths elsewhere before drinking the waters of French Lick Springs. Better results are gained, and time and expense saved, by taking both baths and waters concurrently in the same place."
