The Tub

We recently purchased a cast iron clawfoot tub off Craigslist for a mere $75.  We are almost done redoing it, and I will post on that process later.  In the meantime, I did a little research on the history of our sweet four footed friend.  We found some interesting markings on the bottom of the tub, including a date and a company name:

The name is "CAHILL" and the date is 10-30-17.

As a history nerd and librarian, I was very curious to learn more about the history of our tub.  The date it was made, 1917, was obvious, but what about Cahill?  After a bit of research, I found out there was an iron works company in Chattanooga named Cahill from 1883 to 1922.  The company is better known for producing iron gates and cast iron pans, so at first I thought I was on the wrong track.  Then, I found this little awesome piece of history:

BAM!  History nerd chill bumps.  This is from the U.S. Quartermaster Report of 1918.  The Cahill Iron Works gave a quote to the U.S. Government for fixtures for a housing unit.  That right there is a description of our tub.  Our 5-foot version was once sold for $20.25.  I'm not sure if our legs are "marine pattern" or not, they are claw and ball feet:

The Cahill company produced "Southern Beauty Enamelware."  Below is a 1909 ad I found for one of their sinks. 

Pretty cool!  And just think, the tub will continue to reside in it's hometown.