Popularizing the Finnish sauna

The case of the American hospitality industry

Abstrakti

The popularization of the Finnish Sauna in the American hospitality industry began in the 1960s. Brought to this continent by the Finnish immigrants, the use of the sauna was never – and to this day is not – fully understood. With the coming of the 1960 Winter Olympics and a high-profile visit of the President of Finland to the United States in 1961 provided impetus for a growing industry. This article briefly examines this history of the sauna in America, and concentrates on the popularity this amenity has shown in the hotels and motels of the country. By analyzing hotel and motel directories with the use of the location quotient, a distinct regional concentration of the amenity is found across the country. Various reasons for their concentration are proposed, including ethnic settlement patterns, climate and winter recreational activities.