Las Vegan Morris Wilkins, inventor of the heart-shaped bathtub, dies at 90
Morris Wilkins invented a bathtub and built an empire.
The proprietor of a small lakeside hotel in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, Wilkins sprung out of his bed one night in 1963 with a sudden vision. Bolting down to his basement, he traced a large heart on the concrete floor.
The heart-shaped bathtub was born. Wilkins manufactured the first six tubs himself, pouring concrete in a heart-shaped mold and covering them with red tile.
Over the next four decades Wilkins, who died last week in Las Vegas at age 90, employed a single-minded marketing vision to help make the Poconos “the honeymoon capital of the world.”
That took most people by surprise.
Carl Wilgus, the President and CEO of the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau, said there was nothing intrinsically romantic about the Poconos to match, say, the way Niagra Falls inspires awe. But consistent, decades-long marketing by Wilkins and other hoteliers made it so.
“The message was that the Pocono Mountains were the land of love, where you would want to come and take a honeymoon,” he said. “They developed a mystic, romantic view of the Pocono Mountains.”
Born in Stroudsberg, Pa., to immigrant parents from Russia and Hungary, Wilkins served on a submarine in World War II, then worked as an electrician until 1955, when a storm destroyed his business. He and his partner, Harold O’Brien, purchased an 18-room inn on the banks of Lake Wallenpaupack, just east of Scranton, Penn. and renamed it Cove Haven.
The timing was fortuitous. With the post-World War II marriage boom, large numbers of newlyweds were looking for inexpensive getaways after tying the knot, Wilgus said. Just two hours away from major population centers in New York City and Philadelphia, the Poconos were ideal.
In 1971, a suggestive photograph in Life Magazine of a soapy couple embracing in one of Wilkins’s heart-shaped tubs created a stir. Hotels worldwide started installing the tubs to their honeymoon suites.
One of Wilkins’ few regrets: He never bothered to patent his idea.
“It’s sort-of fortuitous he didn’t, because had he, I’m not sure the region would have blossomed and been as popular,” said his son, Michael Wilkins, of Las Vegas. “Others did the same thing and sort-of supported the whole area.”
Family members say Wilkins ran more than walked, yelled more than talked, and insisted his staff call him by his first name. Though he was famous for the heart-shaped bathtub, they said, his true genius was his desire to improve.
He was an early proponent of the all-inclusive package, advertising his “cruise-ship on land,” where guests surrendered their cars and didn’t get them back until they left, Wilgus said.
Wilkins hired a social director for his hotel and resort, and scheduled dances, pizza parties and a version of television’s Newlywed Game. There was skiing, racquetball, billiards, ice skating and a water park. In the honeymoon suites, Wilkins put carpet on the walls, mirrors on the ceilings and private swimming pools for two. In later years, he outdid himself, adding the seven-foot-tall champagne-glass bathtub, accessed by a staircase in the suite.
The heyday for the Poconos’ honeymoon business lasted for the better part of three decades, before airline travel gave way to more exotic locales.
“It was like Columbus discovering the United States,” Thomas Wilkins, another son, from the hotelier’s first marriage, said. “[Honeymooners] discovered Orlando, they discovered the Bahamas. They discovered sandals.”
Cove Haven dropped the requirement that only honeymooners be allowed to stay at the hotel, and came up with a promotion to attract repeat customers.
“They came up with ‘Forever Lovers,’” Thomas Wilkins said. “It’s like going into Starbucks and getting your Starbucks stapled. Stay there four times and get the fifth free.”
Caesar’s World bought the property in 1969, and Wilkins became the CEO of Caesar’s Pocono Resorts, overseeing Cove Haven and adjacent resorts Pocono Palace and Paradise Stream. He often flew to Las Vegas to discuss ideas with executives Henry Gluck and Terry Lanni at Caesar’s World, where “he was viewed as this creative maverick,” Michael Wilkins said.
Some of his ideas, including circular beds, mirrors on ceilings and yes, heart-shaped tubs, made their way into Caesar’s hotels in Las Vegas and Tahoe, he said.
Morris Wilkins retired in 1999 from Caesar’s Pocono Resorts.
His wife of 47 years, Loise Faye Weitz, died in 2002, and he moved to Las Vegas in 2008 to be close to his son, Michael said. His last few years were quiet, but he remained connected to developments in the hotel industry, watching changes to the Las Vegas skyline with interest, his son said.
“He was on the Internet way into his 80s,” Michael Wilkins said. “He was a great teacher but he was also a great student.”
Wilkins died May 25 at Summerlin Hospital after suffering heart failure at his Queensridge home. He was buried in Honesdale, Pa., following funeral services there May 29. Wilkins is survived by son Michael Wilkins, two daughters, Lori Wilkins Immerman and Jill Wilkins; a son from a previous marriage, Thomas Wilkins, a brother, David Wilkins; and five grandchildren.
Contact Knowles Adkisson at kadkisson@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5529. Find him on Twitter: @knowlesadkisson.
