Wednesday Wisdom – Pre Halloween Genealogy Story

I apologize for posting this on Thursday instead of Wednesday. I completely forgot until Thursday morning! Oh well. Here it is in all of its glory if not a little late.

It’s getting closer to Halloween so I thought I would share with you an interesting story that I ran across. It’s about why living rooms are called living rooms.  Many articles online explain the origins of the living room.  I found it fascinating and worth repeating here especially this close to Halloween.

 

You can find a full version of the article that I will summarize here.

Historically, the living room was originally called the parlor coming from the French word “parle” meaning, “to speak.” This was the room before World War I that was used for visiting either with family or with guests. This space was used for formal or informal social occasions.

A common practice was using this room for funerals.  Before WWI, there were no funeral parlors.  Therefore, families would have funeral services in their home parlors.  By WWI, people were receiving healthcare in doctors’ offices and funerals were being held in funeral parlors. With improving health and decrease in the number of deaths, an article in the Ladies Home Journal in 1910 commented on how the parlor was no longer a “death room” and instead should be called a “living room” because of so many lively activities being held in that room.  This term spread among the common people and is used today.

Isn’t that interesting? So instead of calling this room the parlor, we now call it the living room. So when Halloween arrives, think about your living room as a death room and see if Halloween doesn’t feel a little bit scarier…

Have fun and good luck

Tiffany