Our love affair with showers in the UK started quite recently in fact it was really only when electric wall mounted shower units became available in the 1970s that the demand for electric showers started to gain any momentum within a domestic setting.
Even then they were seen as an optional extra – something that could be added over a bath without changing the basic architecture of the bathroom.
Since that time showers have very quickly become an established part not only of the bathing experience, but also of peoples expectation. This in turn led in the 80s and 90s to shower cubicles being included as a regular fixture in new homes, when bedrooms with en-suite facilities became the norm.
Some of the reasons for the rise in popularity of the shower versus taking a bath have been that showers became associated with speed, immediacy, cleanliness and convenience.