By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

When I meet someone who grew up in Kaimuki, specifically if they grew up in one of those lovely old houses built in the 1940s, I always ask if they had one of those Kaimuki bath tubs. I don't know what else to call them, and I'm sure they're found in houses in other neighborhoods as well, but I've seen them most often in Kaimuki.

They're sort of half-tubs, almost square, about 40 inches both ways and not much more than a foot deep. These half-tubs form the bottom of tiled shower stalls (which come in the classic Kaimuki colors of pink, yellow or aquamarine) and sometimes even have a corner ledge for sitting or for collecting shampoo bottles. The tubs aren't deep enough to serve as a furo, and they're not just splash guards for the shower either; apparently they're meant to be filled because the drain has a built-in plug.

Up until now, those half-tubs were kind of a mystery to me. I couldn't figure out their purpose and I wasn't sure why someone would choose a tiny semi-functional tub over a regular-sized soaker. But every chance I could, I asked.

Someone suggested the little tubs were meant for washing feet — which makes sense, except I've seen old plantation houses with little spigots near the bottom of the shower stall that seem more specifically for foot-washing.

Someone suggested the tubs were meant for doing laundry by hand. Someone else thought they were intended for washing dogs. When I offered these ideas to one woman she was disgusted.

"Wash tubs are for laundry and garden hoses are for dogs!" she said, shaking her finger for emphasis. She thought the tub was meant for rinsing the mop or soaking it in Lysol while cleaning the house. Of course, the tubs could be for bathing children, but they're too big for babies and too small for anyone more than 4 feet tall.

Ed Moore, president of Diamond Head Plumbing, came up with the best theory I've heard yet:

"I think it was more of a situation of when they designed those homes, they utilized those to at least give some sort of a tub without taking up the entire bathroom," Moore said.

So it wasn't so much the homeowner's choice, but a decision by the developer.

"The bathrooms are rather small in Kaimuki ... They used those so they could at least have some type of a tub instead of just a ceramic tile shower, which would be the alternative. They only take up that 42-inch space instead of the standard 60 or even back then, 66. And I just don't think there was room in those small bathrooms for a larger tub."

Moore says he gets calls from Kaimuki homeowners who want to redesign their bathrooms to accommodate full-sized tubs. But those who like the 1940s tub, for dog washing or otherwise, can update their bathroom without losing the look. The original manufacturer no longer makes them, but a company called Elger still sells the 36-by-42-inch tubs.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 535-8172.