Water: Bottled

The American bottled water business has its roots in the tradition of European spas, where curative powers were attributed to drinking and/or bathing in spa water. From Bath in England to Baden-Baden in Germany, whether the water bubbled up in springs or was drawn from wells, steaming hot or icy cold, crystal clear or cloudy with minerals, it was prescribed for myriad maladies and endorsed as an aid to overall good health. By the end of the nineteenth century, an estimated 300,000 French men and women visited spas annually. Spa owners began to bottle water as a supplement to their incomes. Among the venerable European spa waters still bottled today are Apollinaris, Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino, Vichy, and Vittel.