In the ’70s, hot tubs were more of a curiosity than an industry. In the fall of 1978, Joe King was in southern England, studying business marketing management and trying to imagine a future that didn’t automatically lead to his family’s company in Minnesota.
When Alice Cunningham walked away from a prestigious federal career in the mid-1970s to start a hot tub business, her father cried. She had a month of vacation, excellent benefits and a senior role administering job training programs for tens of thousands of people nationwide. She was, by every conventional measure, doing exactly what she was supposed to do.
The Jacuzzi name came from humble beginnings. What started as a family of inventors passionate about aviation and machinery evolved into one of the most iconic names in wellness.
Joe King’s life in the pool and spa industry began before he even had a driver’s license. As a teenager, he worked alongside his father, servicing swimming pools and learning firsthand the value of clean water, customer trust and hard work. That experience planted the seeds for what would become King Technology, officially founded in 1979 by King and his father, Lloyd, who had invented a brominator small enough for a hot tub.
In 1977, Alice Cunningham and her late husband, Blair Osborn, took a leap of faith. Leaving behind successful careers — Cunningham as a U.S. Department of Labor administrator and Osborn as a mechanical engineering professor — they founded Olympic Hot Tub in Seattle. With no business experience and little precedent to follow, they launched one of the first dedicated hot tub companies in the Pacific Northwest and helped create a new category in the American home experience.
The story of Jacuzzi is an American dream realized through water and wellness. It began in the early 20th century, when seven brothers from Casarsa della Delizia, Italy, immigrated to the United States. Settling in California, the Jacuzzi brothers — Valeriano, Francesco, Rachele, Candido, Giocondo, Gelindo and Joseph — channeled their mechanical knowledge into aviation and agricultural pump technologies, founding Jacuzzi Brothers Inc. in 1915.
The Hot Tub Hall of Fame was established in 2024 through a partnership between SpaRetailer magazine and the International Hot Tub Association. Created to celebrate the pioneers and visionaries of the industry, the Hall of Fame shines a spotlight on the people whose passion and dedication have shaped the way the world experiences hot water. Honorees come from every corner of the hot tub world.
2024 Hot Tub Hall of Fame: Born Dec. 21, 1950, Rich Werber died April 7, 2021, after a brief battle with lung cancer. He founded and ran Great Atlantic Hot Tubs, Pools & Saunas with three locations in the Virginia Beach, Virginia, area and one in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
After 40 years at the helm, Steve Hammock retired from Watkins Wellness in 2022.
Hammock got his start in the Phoenix hot tub market in 1982 but was determined to make his way to San Diego where his family was from. A friend knew the owners at hot tub maker Watkins Manufacturing (now Watkins Wellness) and recommended him.
In 2019, Chris Robinson retired from Lucite International after 39 years with the company.
Robinson has been a familiar face in the hot tub industry. He’s been part of many industry groups, serving on and chairing committees.
Meet the 2024 inductees to the Hot Tub Hall of Fame.