Hello, I'm Ranger Jeff Heitzman here at Hot Springs National Park. I'm in the fabulous gymnasium on the third floor of the Fordyce Bathhouse which now is the National Park Visitor Center and Museum. I'm decked out as a patron might have been back in 1915 who would have been visiting the bathhouse here partaking of the baths trying to get well. And I'm getting ready to demonstrate the pulley weight system. The patrons who came here were able to use the gymnasium. It was a free service that was offered. And pulley weights like this were very popular at that time. A number of different exercises can be done. The theory was that if you were doing the baths to get well - as you did get better - you could come up and do these exercises and get well even faster. Thank you for visiting. |
Last updated: April 10, 2015