"The Jacuzzi is to this generation what the drive-in movie was in the fifties."
Mike Darnell, U.S. television executive
As with so many inventions, the Jacuzzi®—the best- known brand of hot tub—was invented to fulfil la very practical need: in this case, the healthcare of a family member. The Jacuzzi family were Italian immigrants to the United States in the early 1900s who developed a strong company in the aviation industry, and then flourished by designing irrigation pumps. But it was not until 1948 that they began developing the technology that would make them world famous.
Candido Jacuzzi (1903-1986) had a son who contracted rheumatoid arthritis and received hydrotherapy treatment in hospital. Wanting to bring his son home, he developed a hydraulic pump to replicate the boy's therapy, and for some years the pump was marketed as the J-300 therapeutic device.
In 1968 third-generation family member Roy Jacuzzi developed the first version of the modern hot tub. Roy had joined the company as head of research and was looking for new products. He took Candido's J-300 device and developed it to sell to the leisure industry as a whirl pool bath. Marketed as the "Roman," Roy's design was the first self-contained consumer model to be sold. Previously an external pump had been lowered into the bath, but the Roman's pump was fully incorporated. The Roman pumped a 50/50 mix of water and air into the bath, a patented formula that the Jacuzzi brand still uses.
