Towels in different cultures

We know towels in a range of different sizes and use them quite naturally every day for drying ourselves – whether after washing our hands, after a shower or at the swimming pool.

However, the terry towels familiar to us today have only existed since the 19th century. Around 1850, this type of fabric was discovered in the Ottoman Empire by a British banker. The looped fabric was then further developed in England and has also been produced in Germany since 1856.

The special quality of terry products lies in their high absorbency, combined with quick drying times and a pleasant texture. Yet towels were also known and used in earlier times and in other cultures. In some cases, however, they differ considerably from the ones we use today.

Hamam towel: the oriental towel

Regular sauna-goers will certainly be familiar with the hamam towel: a large, often handwoven cotton cloth with fringes at the ends. The colours are often bright, and with a length of 170 cm or more it is ideally suited for use in Turkish bathhouses, the hamams. It was probably invented in the 17th century in the Turkish city of Bursa, originally as a narrow cloth that later became increasingly wider so that it could wrap around the whole body.

The hamam towel is therefore not intended only for drying off, but also serves as clothing during the steam bath and has been known for centuries.  Under the name “pestemal”, the hamam towel was already known in ancient Egypt – although there too it was used as a garment wrapped around the hips. It is therefore “related” to the towel, but is used somewhat differently. It also lacks loops: while the cotton is not completely smooth and is often loosely woven, the fabric is not terry towelling.

Drying off with cloth towels

Hamam towels are light and, thanks to the cotton, highly absorbent; they also dry quickly – so they share many of the advantages of the terry towel familiar to us. The use of cloths for drying off has also been known in Europe for centuries, although for a long time linen – not cotton – was used to make these towels. Linen fabric made from flax fibres was already a popular material in Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages for everything worn directly against the body. Compared with wool, linen repels dirt and could also be produced inexpensively at home.  (Cloth-making, by contrast, was generally reserved for craftsmen.) And another point: at that time, a towel was a very personal item that was not shared within the household – much like one’s own knife.

In 14th-century Italy, linen was often already blended with cotton, and the resulting Perugia cloths were used not only for towels but also for bed linen and table linen. Their characteristic features were the indigo-blue colouring and the patterns, often diamond or lozenge twill designs.

Elsewhere: towels as washing cloths

There were also towels in China, where they were used partly for washing and partly for drying. At least, this is evident from numerous travel accounts from the 19th century. As early as around 1060, Empress Cao of China’s Song dynasty was depicted with court ladies assisting her with a long patterned towel.

Among Indigenous peoples in the Americas, towels may primarily have been used for washing. For drying, fluffy feathers are said to have been used, for example.

Towels therefore did not first appear with the import of terry fabric into Europe, but have existed for much longer. Today, however, they hold an important place in households, as there is no longer just one personal towel per person, but often several sets consisting of different towel sizes.

Today, the bathrobe serves us as a garment worn directly on the body and has therefore taken over the role once held in the Orient by the hamam towel.