Waterfront: May 2010

A Blast From The Past

AQUA editors climb into Hot Tub Time Machine

For the past few months, a lot of buzz around the office has been dedicated to Hot Tub Time Machine, a movie that hit theaters in March that follows a group of four guys as they are whisked back to 1986 by a hot tub. Not only did we decide to step away from our computer screens to check out the movie, but we thought it'd be fun to take our readers on a journey back in time, too. We dug up the 1986 AQUA archives " back when the magazine was known as Spa & Sauna " and had ourselves a few good laughs.

Coincidentally, the May '86 issue featured a retailer survey. Spa sales were on the rise and brown marble was the shell color of choice. And, according to the survey, the average selling price for a hot tub in '85 was $3,195. Competition was fierce back in the day, especially out West, where, on average, retailers were likely to have four to five competitors within a 5-mile radius.

So, for nostalgia's sake, check out a few pages of Spa & Sauna circa 1986, and just for kicks, we thought we'd print a few of our own '80s throwbacks.