In the early days of the blog, the woddities — “wonderful oddities” — came fast and furious — so many inventive, undiscovered home features, patiently waiting to be rediscovered. But nowadays… golly… no woddity action in four months: Have we seen it all?
Fear not, last hot time Saturday night on our Facebook page, when
- (1) Nicole tipped us to this klassic Kzoo time capsule house… in which
- (2) Suzanne spotted a seemingly extraneous faucet above the bathroom sink… and then sure enough
- (3) Diane piped in — she has one (shown above) in her 1936 house… and howdy, hudee, here we have a very wodd woddity, indeed.
So… what the heck is it for? Can we solve the mystery?
There were many comments guessing at the tap’s purpose, and once we had a good closeup photo, leading contenders included:
#1 — Diane speculated:
I’ve discussed this with several plumbers over the years, and the consensus is that there was an ice water tank in the basement, similar to a hot water tank. There’s no evidence of a tank, so it’s just speculation. Fortunately, whoever disconnected the ice water source re-connected the tap to the regular water source, so the tap still works!
# 2 — Another reader said her plumber had another theory — that this extra faucet on the wall adjusted the water pressure.
#3 — But best yet, Clive speculated:
Maybe when you turn it, the whole wall, basin and floor swivel around, spinning you into a secret Dr. Evil-style midcentury modern lair. Well we can always hope!
Yes, Clive, we can always hope!
Hmmm… either of those first two ideas sounded plausible to me. But hey, I know an expert — John of deabath.com — they specialize in vintage plumbing fixtures. Longtime advertiser-friends of the blog, they always are quick to help us solve plumbing mysteries. Perhaps they could solve this one, too?
Quick as a flash — yes, in minutes — John responded to my email. He said:
That’s an easy one! Some high-end homes had a separate refrigeration unit strictly for ice cold drinking water, and the house was plumbed with a separate cold line just for this use. The faucet spout will have a separate inlet just for the ice water, one turned the knob on the wall and ice water flowed from the spout. We have in our parts bin two spouts that had a button on the spout marked “Ice water”. You pressed the button, and you got cold water… As with many things, this went out of fashion.
You can’t say we don’t know how to have fun here.
Paul says
I suspect they were more common in the south, where cooler tap water can be elusive. I remember them in the rooms at the elegant old Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans.
Kit says
While I love a brisk invigorating splash on my face in the morning to wake up, I sure wouldn’t want to bath in it! Instant icy cold? I would love not waiting for my spigot to cool off.
René says
Pam, is Retro Renovation’s Facebook page the most appropriate place to put up pictures of potential woddities? The Retro Decorating Gods gifted me with a ceramic double basin kitchen sink yesterday. Both basins are round. Trying to identify its vintage is apparently beyond the reach of my Google skills.
Thanks!
pam kueber says
Rene, you can either put it on the FB page, or connect with me via our Contact page (bottom of blog)
Rick Fahrenbruch says
My partners had a separate faucet similar to this by their kitchen sink. The regular sink faucet supplied soft cold and hot water. The extra faucet was for un-softened cold water for drinking.
Debra says
You have done it again!!! An Ice Water faucet in the bathroom! Pure luxury for sure. The first thing I thought about was how glorious our well water was in Oklahoma. Our well was several hundred feet deep & the water was always deliciously frosty. I would love to have that today!! Thanks for sharing!!
Claire says
Someone postulated that it might also be used to fill a sitz bath when one’s “hemmies” were acting up. Love the “woddities!”
Abby says
Strange since most people I know have an aversion to drinking bathroom water!
Adrian says
That is awesome! I’d connect that tap again to a refrigeration unit and use it for what it was.. Splashing my face with and for drinking if I need to.. I cannot stand room temperature water for drinking. lol
Jamie says
I saw something similar at the Breakers Hotel in Long Beach, CA, back in 1985. The third knob, I was told, was so guests could take sea water baths in the privacy of their hotel room bathroom. When the hotel was reno’ed in the ’80s, they disconnected the knob but kept it in place. BTW, my grandfather took a cold bath every day — ran the water the night before and let it get good and chilly overnight before his morning bath. Brrrrr!
pam kueber says
Yikes! Not me, scorching hot!
rue says
In the late 18th century and up until the 19th century, cold baths were supposed to make you healthier and were used at spas during the time.
I agree with Pam though…. brrrr…… only hot baths for me!
Mary Elizabeth says
It’s like Finns coming out of a sauna and jumping into cold snow. It’s supposed to make you strong and brave. 🙂
Diane in CO says
We had one of these above the sink in the huge main bathroom of my childhood home in Kalamazoo Michigan. I distinctly remember the house had all Crane plumbing fixtures; which seemed funny because our street was on Crane Avenue.
I had a separate bath, so don’t remember if this faucet actually worked at the time I lived there (1955-1968).
A great woddity to feature!
Nina462 says
Hi Diane – My sister married a Crane….and my Dad used to say to her “I thought of you today in the bathroom. You know Crane plumbing!”
Just a little joke in the family 🙂