7. John Adams believed in washing upon arising in the morning
When John Adams tumbled out of bed, his first action of the day was to approach the wash basin in his room. Cold water, splashed on his face and neck while still in his nightshirt, started his day. Adams came to the belief that the colder the water, the more beneficial it was to his overall health. On frosty Massachusetts winter mornings, Adams frequently started his day by breaking the sheet of ice which had formed over the water overnight. He wrote the icy water invigorated his system, improving the circulation, which led to an overall warming of his so recently recumbent body. Though perhaps the spreading warmth came from the glass of hard cider he drank each morning, bracing for the day.
That seems to have been the extent of his daily hygiene. New Englanders typically frowned at leisurely bathing, as befitted their luxury hating Puritan forebears. Baths usually took place once a month or so among the working class, and perhaps as often as once a week among the elite. While in France, Adams wrote disapprovingly of the habit of long soaking baths among the French, and sniffed at Franklin’s enjoying the practice. Adams did pay attention to the appearance of his clothes, stung by his political enemies referring to him sneeringly as “His Rotundity”. His personal hygiene, by the standards of his time, was more or less of little note, much like his Presidency.
Also Read: Here Are 10 Members of the Adams Family Who Proved Their Worth.