The shower door was largely responsible for the further slipping down the ranking of the poor bath. For years people were obsessed with the bath as the place as being the place where people cleaned themselves, this is not to say that the shower did not exist, because years before the shower came to dominate the bathing scene, the shower was already visible in places like prison and school change rooms, why it took so long for the shower to transcend communal bathrooms and make its way into homes, will always be a mystery.
The bigger mystery is why, despite the fact that showers are so much more economical, they were popular in the homes of richer people first. Showers became a normal sight in most bathrooms eventually but there was still a downside that made taking a shower less than pleasant, and that is the shower curtain, because as soon as the shower door appeared on the scene, showers took on a whole new dimension.
Before people would shower because it was quicker than a bath and to a lesser extent because it was cheaper, since the arrival of the shower door, showers have become places where one goes to unwind and allow the jets to blast away any worries.
The shower door has also gone through many changes: from the three panel design that was one of the earliest to the more modern single panel. The mechanism that operates the shower door has also become a lot smoother over the years, which has added to the elegance which bathroom designers were trying to achieve with the shower door.
Despite all the efforts to glamourize the shower door, the most important trait of the shower door must not be forgotten. The best thing about any shower door, irrespective of how it opens, is the fact it means that you never have to go through the ordeal of someone walking into the bathroom, and the wind causing the shower curtain to get stuck to you. This is a feeling that those born after the door will never quite grasp.