Photo of the Week: 1901 spa therapy still used today

This woman’s head in a strange contraption is me.

I’m in the circa-1901 steam bath at the Palace Hotel and Bath House in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, taking a “eucalyptus steam treatment” for my (then) stuffy nose.

The price for it is a lovely throwback, too — US$16.00

There is a bench that you sit on inside the cabinet, and you can push the door outward a little whenever you start to feel too warm.

Legend has it that the curmudgeonly comedian W.C. Fields used the Bath House spa services.

Can you imagine him in this thing with a hangover? He famously enjoyed his booze. Hmmm, not sure that works for a blog about travel with kids.

I visited the lively Ozarks town of Eureka Springs for an upcoming article in National Geographic Traveler; will update you when the magazine is out.