Jacuzzi is a company that produces whirlpool bathtubs and
spasA hot tub is a large tub or small pool full of heated water and used for soaking, relaxation, massage, or hydrotherapy. In most cases, they have jets for massage purposes. Hot tubs are usually located outdoors, and are often sheltered for protection from the elements, as well as for privacy....
. Its first product was a bath with
massaging jetMassage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
s. The term "jacuzzi" is now often used generically to refer to any bathtub with massaging jets.
History
Around 1900, seven brothers named Jacuzzi immigrated to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. They eventually settled on the West Coast in
Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
and became
machinistA machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...
s. One of them, Rachele, began making
aircraftA fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
propellerA propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
s, inspired by an
airshowAn air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....
he had seen at the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in nearby
San FranciscoSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. They designed a unique propeller known as the "Jacuzzi toothpick". Rachele and his brothers created an aircraft manufacturing company in Berkeley called "Jacuzzi Brothers", which remained in business until 1976, although their product line changed over the years. One accomplishment of the company was the first enclosed cabin
monoplaneA monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
, which was used by the U.S. Postal Service to carry passengers from the
San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
area to
Yosemite National ParkYosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
.
In 1925, as a result of a crash of one of their planes in 1921 between Yosemite and San Francisco, which killed brother Giocondo, the Jacuzzi Brothers stopped making aircraft. Rachele turned the company's know-how in making
hydraulicHydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
aircraft
pumpA pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
s to the manufacture of a new kind of deep well agricultural pump. Their design turned out to be an innovative new pump. They received a
Gold MedalGold Medal is the sixth studio album by the American hard rock band The Donnas, released in 2004 on Atlantic Records. It was one of the first albums released in the DualDisc format, but was recalled due to a mastering error which resulted in the final track being partially omitted from the CD...
at the California State Fair in 1930.
In 1948, brother
CandidoCandido Jacuzzi was an Italian immigrant to the United States of America. Candido Jacuzzi invented the Jacuzzi whirlpool bath for his son, Kenny Jacuzzi, 15-month-old son who was born with rheumatoid arthritis. He developed a pump that enabled a whirlpool to be created in a bath as a...
used the company's expertise in pumps to develop a submersible bathtub pump for his son, Kenneth, who had developed
rheumatoid arthritisRheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...
in 1943, at the age of 15 months and suffered from chronic pain. The boy received regular hydrotherapy treatments at local hospitals, but Candido could not stand to see his son suffering between visits. He realized that their agricultural water pumps could be adapted to give his son soothing whirlpool treatments in the tub at home. Kenneth Jacuzzi eventually took charge of the company.
In 1955, the firm decided to market the pump, dubbed "J-300", as a therapeutic aid, selling it in bath supply shops. To generate a little publicity for the unknown product, portable Jacuzzis were included in the gifts given to contestants on TV's
Queen for a DayQueen for a Day is an American radio and television game show that helped to usher in American listeners' and viewers' fascination with big-prize giveaway shows. Queen for a Day originated on the Mutual Radio Network on April 30, 1945 in New York City before moving to Los Angeles a few months...
. It was pitched as relief for the worn out housewife. When Hollywood stars like
Randolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
and
Jayne MansfieldJayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
began offering testimonials, the Jacuzzi whirlpool bathtub started to acquire its fame.
Jack BennyJack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
was hired as a spokesman for Jacuzzi.
In 1968, Candido Jacuzzi brought to market the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath by incorporating jets into the sides of the tub. Dubbed the "Roman Bathtub," the jets used a 50-50 air/water ratio to improve the experience. The Jacuzzi became a symbol of a luxurious lifestyle. Hundreds of thousands of Jacuzzi portables were installed, both indoors and outdoors, at recreation centers and private homes. Hollywood
celebritiesA celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
began making personal use of them.
Despite its popularity, however, the whirlpool bath was still mostly a sideline at Jacuzzi Brothers. By far the bulk of Jacuzzi Brother's revenues came from sales of water pumps, marine jets, and swimming pool equipment.
In the early 1970s, the company produced larger units with built-in
heatingWater heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water are for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating...
and
filtrationA water filter removes impurities from water by means of a fine physical barrier, a chemical process or a biological process. Filters cleanse water to various extents for irrigation, drinking water, aquariums, and swimming pools.-Methods of filtration:...
systems. This was the beginning of the spa industry as we know it today, and it firmly associated the Jacuzzi name with the tubs.
Suzanne SomersSuzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....
, then a model, was used in some of the first Jacuzzi print advertisements. The integrated design allowed for easy installation and portability, and thousands of homeowners installed the units. As the industry matured, the company's product line expanded with models that worked in multi-use configurations as hot tubs, whirlpool baths, or both. These models could be installed indoors or outdoors.
Today, Jacuzzi branded hot tubs, baths, showers, toilets, sinks, and accessories are commonly found in residential homes, hotels, and aboard cruise ships and have become popular in high-end
spasA destination spa is a short term residential/lodging facility with the primary purpose of providing individual services for spa-goers to develop healthy habits. Historically many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or sources of mineral waters...
around the world. Jacuzzi products are distributed in about 60 countries worldwide.
The Jacuzzi assembly plant is located in
Chino, CaliforniaChino is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located in the western end of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area and it is easily accessible via the Chino Valley and Pomona freeways....
. This plant was the first ISO 9001 certified hot tub production facility in the world. It had the capability of producing up to 300 spas per day for their domestic and export business needs. Their product line has many unique features such as patented jets, rainbow
waterfallA waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
s, synthetic sun-resistant siding,
stereoSTEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
s,
ergonomicErgonomics is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements, and its cognitive abilities.The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as follows:...
seating, triple-layered shells, full
foam-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
insulationThermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat transfer is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...
, and a solid
A.B.S.Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....
pan bottom.
In October 2006,
Apollo ManagementApollo Global Management, LLC is a private equity investment firm, founded in 1990 by former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker Leon Black. The firm specializes in leveraged buyout transactions and purchases of distressed securities involving corporate restructuring, special situations and industry...
, a large
private equityPrivate equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firm, announced a $990 million
leveraged buyoutA leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
of Jacuzzi Brands.
In 2008 Jacuzzi moved its world headquarters to
The Shoppes at Chino HillsThe Shoppes at Chino Hills is a open-air shopping mall which had grand opening on May 23, 2008 in , California. The project was developed by and officially broke ground in October 2006....
.
External links