Richard Bushman's "The Refinement of America" (1991?)
is a wonderful piece on the growing specialization of
space in American homes from the 17th to the 19th
centuries. At one time, most homes had only one or two
rooms per story. Every room was multi-purpose space.
Activities were gradually segregated to one room or
another and homes divided into smaller and smaller
spaces. Urban homeowners tended to lead in these
changes, taking their cue from Europe.

Closets are the ultimate specialized space! Docents
might begin considering closets as part of this larger
trend.

Bethany S. Rutledge
Director of Collections & Exhibits
Thornton W. Burgess Society
East Sandwich, MA

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).