Here's my thinking on this.  More than happy to be corrected if I am mistaken.

Several reasons, the first being vernacular building tradition.  You often hear tour guides or historians say, "people just didn't have that much stuff to put in closets."  That is a little too essentialist for me.  Take a look at some of the NPS photos of people living in log or boxed houses in the Smoky Mt. region before it became a National Park.  Take a gander at sod housing in the west.  Those houses are alters to clutter.  Christopher Lowell would short circuit if he had to organize one of those places.  People had all kinds of stuff.

Just heard this recently. Up until the Revolutionary War and for a time afterward, most northern states had a room tax.  Build a five room house, get taxed for five rooms.  Build a five room house with two closets having doors on them, get taxed for seven rooms.  I wouldn't have built closets either.  

A few other reasons...Many homes had attics (that's a great, big closet to you and me).  Hangers were not widely in use.  People used wardrobes or chests. 

I've heard all of these, and I would venture that each are true at least to an extent.  The only one I don't buy en masse is the "less stuff" theory.  It just doesn't add up with photographic documentation.  

-------------- Original message --------------

> 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?
>
> Joann
>
>
> Joann Lindstrom
> Museum Consultant
> 380 Back West Creek Road
> Berkshire, NY 13736
> 607-642-5078 phone
> 607-642-5494 fax
>
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