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rejuvenate your mind, body and soul |
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Sauna History
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 The sauna has existed in various forms for thousands of years, its purpose, as a
cleansing and relaxing habitation, has not changed over that time, but advances
in technologies and applications have brought forth better and easier ways of enjoying
the warmth of the sauna.
The first saunas were, in essence, holes in the ground with a fire pit in the center
and a roof made of anything that could cover the fire, retain the heat and prevent
rainfall, wind and cold disruption.
There’s no question our Finnish and Roman ancestors were on to something when they
improved and embraced the traditions of sauna. The sauna was used to socialize with
friends and rejuvenate the body after hours of hard labor.
It is the Finns that made sauna a cultural tradition and a way of life. While other
cultures enjoyed dry heat the Finns perfected it to a science.
The first “Finnish Sauna” in North America was built by Finnish and Swedish immigrants
who settled in the Delaware River Valley before the American Revolution in 1638.
Sauna bathing really took off between 1850 and 1920 in the United States when over
400,000 Finns left their homeland and traveled to the “New World”.
In the 1930s, American athletes discovered the benefits of sauna from their Finnish
counterparts. With American’s passion for sports the sauna tradition continued to
grow throughout the 1940s. More people were exposed to the product in hotels and
gyms in the 1950s. In the 1960s sauna became its own small industry with companies
like Metos Sauna from Finland, Viking Sauna and Helo Sauna all selling their products
to the hot new market- the American consumer.
In the 1970s, the thrust for exercise once again impacted the growth of the American
sauna market. More health clubs were built with saunas and saunas were now appearing
in many hotels and motels. Companies like Amerec that sold both sauna and exercise
equipment had tremendous growth. The 1980s and 1990s were perhaps the biggest growth
for the American residential sauna market. Companies such as Amerec, Finnleo and
Finlandia that specialized in custom saunas rooms dominated the market.
In 1984 Joe Leahy and Doug Smith founded Apex on the principles of strong customer
service, local on site consulting and factory trained installers. Their quest for
quality and customer service has made Apex one of the top sauna companies in America.
In 2006 John Gunderson (23 year veteran of the sauna and steam market) joined Apex.
Joe, Doug and John have sold or installed over 20,000 saunas throughout the world
over the past 25 years. |
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