@Arkypatriot The "idea" is really no different than the "tent" that many current day Sun Tracker pontoon boats have to give some privacy for changing and even for using the onboard chemical port-a-potty.
@Arkypatriot Very few of the beaches I visited as a kid in Europe had cabanas. Plenty of beaches now without cabanas. Nothing is visible when people use these to change. Still better than the alternative imho.
That "American" obsession started in Europe though. I'm clearly older if none of you can recall the years when in France it was almost impossible to get tap water.
If you asked for water the inevitable question was whether you wanted it to be sparkling or not. Vittel, Vichy, Evian, etc.
Take it a step further and it is trivial to Google or ChatGPT or whatever and ask the question where bottled water was invented. The answer btw is England... in 1622 at Holy Well in Malvern.
And to the question of where the habit of carrying a water bottle originated, are you going to be surprised to discover the answer is:
Origin of the Habit of Carrying a Water Bottle
The habit of carrying a water bottle became popular first in Europe, with roots in the 17th–18th centuries when bottled water was marketed as a health product.
European origins
Bottling water began in Europe in the 1600s, driven by the spa culture and water therapy trends of the time. In 1622, the UK’s Holy Well became one of the first sites to bottle water for sale, and by the 17th–18th centuries, European spas were bottling mineral spring water for medicinal and health purposes https://t.co/04D8wb9VgK. This created a tradition of carrying bottled water for personal use, especially among the wealthy and health-conscious. The rise of carbonated water in the late 18th century (e.g., Schweppes in 1783) further cemented bottled water as a fashionable and health-oriented product
So...