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Back when boarding houses were more common there was a stronger social code of conduct and a tighter, stricter etiquette with less room for deviation. Everyone was expected to play the part so it was completely natural to get along with strangers. Now there is a good chance a stranger living and eating with you is really going to get on your nerves, possibly even drive you mad, there is no telling how he will behave. It's a different world, one in which you cant just sit down to dinner with a stranger an expect to get along. We are pretty much all out of control and doing our own thing
It's a different world, one in which you cant just sit down to dinner with a stranger an expect to get along. We are pretty much all out of control and doing our own thing
I think we can, but we've gotten so used to not needing to. I think we all need to get back to the communal dinner table a little bit.
I think we can, but we've gotten so used to not needing to. I think we all need to get back to the communal dinner table a little bit.
One more time - people in 1920 didnt live in boarding houses to be social. I'm pretty sure affluent single people, who could afford servants to keep house for them, or to eat at restaurants, or at their 'club' never did. It was a resort of less affluent single people living where they had no family nearby, because housekeeping was too difficult.
We have made housekeeping much easier. You come home, and pop something frozen in your microwave - if you prefer natural, you open a bag of precut veggies. You don't have to shop everyday because you have a fridge - and when you do shop you don't have to make seperate stops at the baker, butcher, fish market and green grocer - you can just go to the supermarket. So people don't NEED a boarding house. If they WANT to be social, they can drop by the local coffee shop or bar or other "third place" but WHEN they want to.
Back when boarding houses were more common there was a stronger social code of conduct and a tighter, stricter etiquette with less room for deviation. Everyone was expected to play the part so it was completely natural to get along with strangers. Now there is a good chance a stranger living and eating with you is really going to get on your nerves, possibly even drive you mad, there is no telling how he will behave. It's a different world, one in which you cant just sit down to dinner with a stranger an expect to get along. We are pretty much all out of control and doing our own thing
That explanation would seem to preclude things like hotels.
In any case - the advantage of a rooming house or boarding house is you can travel light and move easily - if someone doesn't work out, they can pack a suitcase and be gone in an afternoon.
That explanation would seem to preclude things like hotels.
In any case - the advantage of a rooming house or boarding house is you can travel light and move easily - if someone doesn't work out, they can pack a suitcase and be gone in an afternoon.
Not really Hotels are used for travelers and for more seedy things. An Apartment can give you that thing without the hassel of an unrelated person in the household.
Couch surfing is a bit different in that it's more temporary (boarding houses often had people living there for months and years) and that it's not commercial
One more time - people in 1920 didnt live in boarding houses to be social. I'm pretty sure affluent single people, who could afford servants to keep house for them, or to eat at restaurants, or at their 'club' never did. It was a resort of less affluent single people living where they had no family nearby, because housekeeping was too difficult.
We have made housekeeping much easier. You come home, and pop something frozen in your microwave - if you prefer natural, you open a bag of precut veggies. You don't have to shop everyday because you have a fridge - and when you do shop you don't have to make seperate stops at the baker, butcher, fish market and green grocer - you can just go to the supermarket. So people don't NEED a boarding house. If they WANT to be social, they can drop by the local coffee shop or bar or other "third place" but WHEN they want to.
Agreed. Plus, back in 1920, single women didn't live alone. They just didn't. They lived with their husbands, their parents, or in a boardinghouse. An exception to this rule was for elderly women, who were "allowed" to live in the family home, but often went to live with an adult son or daughter. Hence, the need for boardinghouses for those who had no other option.
Extended stay hotels are the closest thing we got. Or the mancamps in North Dakota.
As well as bed and breakfasts.
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