The word originates from a 14th-century rhyme, first referring to maids in a bath that used to be an appeal at festivals.
“Howdy! rub-a-dub, ho! rub-a-dub, 3 maids in a bath,
And who do you suppose had been there?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker,
And they all long gone to the truthful
Via the 19th century, the rhyme used to be was a nursery rhyme, titled Rub a Dub Dub and seemed in the e-book 2d Quantity of Christmas Field revealed in 1798 representing the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker as tradesmen who made Christmas extra gorgeous.
