Interestingly, I was told in a recent visit to an historic home that the
closet tax story is a popular and pervasive myth.  I did a Google search
to see if there was anything online on it, and only found a single
article by David Bush that also makes that claim
(http://www.houseandhomeonline.com/historical0100.html).  There are also
numerous examples, including an NPS site, that use the closet tax
explanation. Does anyone have a documented source for or against this
story, and an alternative explanation if it is not true??

**************************
Jennifer Gayman Ruffner
Heritage Coordinator
Queen Anne's County, Maryland
410-604-2100

-----Original Message-----
From: Deb Fuller [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 11:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Old Homes/Closets

--- Joann Lindstrom <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I took a tour of a historic home recently and was told by the guide
that old
> homes often do not have closets for a specific reason.
>
> Before I relay the reason given to my group, I would like to hear from
those
> of you who may know--what do you tell the public about the lack of
closet
> space at your historic sites?

How old is the house? I thought that originally it was because of the
"room
tax" and closets were considered rooms. Thus houses were built without a
lot of
closets to avoid the tax and people used wardrobes. Plus, it's easier to
build
a room without a closet, especially if people don't have a lot of
clothes to
begin with and wardrobes to boot. Old habits die hard, especially in
architecture. Even today in the UK, you have to specify closets in
rooms. The
houses/flats aren't automatically built with them. (Or at least was the
case
with my friend's new flat that was built recently. She even had to
finish the
molding and the trim and install the appliances. Egads.)

Deb

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