Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was a polymath known for many things, including the invention of his famous stove, which improved the warming of rooms in greater safety than open fireplaces, his insights into electricity, his work as a writer and printer, his invention of bifocals, and on and on. His reputation as a ladies man is also well known, as is his fondness for bawdy verse and stories. What is a bit less known is that Franklin was something of an exhibitionist, which he managed in his lifetime to hide behind the cover of healthful exercise and treatments.
For most of his life Franklin argued the benefits of fresh air in an era in which the air, particularly night air, was believed to carry with it the ills of mankind. In cities, such as Franklin’s Philadelphia, the air was considered to be noxious. Franklin disavowed himself of this position, enjoying a daily routine which he called an air bath. Franklin would sit nude, during the colder months for a period of half an hour or so, before an open window, enjoying the cool air on his bare skin, in full view of the passersby on the street.
In the warmer months the air bath could be comfortably extended, and to occupy his mind while “bathing” Franklin would often work on his correspondence, or other writings as he took the air. The sight of Dr. Franklin posing in his window did not trouble the citizens of Philadelphia who took it as just another of the beloved Franklin’s eccentricities. When he journeyed to London to represent the colonies he drew a bit more attention, and discontinued his air baths there for a time due to the smoky, foggy air of the British capital.
Air baths weren’t the only form of public display of which Franklin was prone to indulge. In both Philadelphia and London, and later when he was in Paris, Franklin enjoyed his favorite form of physical exercise, swimming. Many Londoners and later Parisians who enjoyed strolling along the Thames or the Seine were treated to the sight of Franklin swimming in the river, completely naked, his clothes watched over by a servant ashore. The English sniffed at the activity, the French merely shrugged. Franklin was indifferent to commentary or criticism in any case, even when it came from his colleague in France, John Adams.
Franklin was comfortable in his own nudity and evidently in the nudity of others. While in France, Franklin was friends with Madame Brillon, and often played chess with her and with other mutual friends. When Franklin played with another friend Madame Brillon enjoyed watching the game, and on at least one occasion Franklin and another friend played chess while Madame Brillon watched from the warmth and comfort of her bathtub, placed alongside the gaming table.
