The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-01-20
The Awful GlOOminess Of Modern Par.
lOrs.

A great deal has been said and written
against the old-fashioned parlor. In
deed, people have generally come to
look upon it as q failure, aud to think
slighEngly of the taste which rendered
it possible. Whatever may have been
its defects. there is question in the
minds of some people as to whether the
modern parlor is great Improvement
upon the ancient one, and, in fact,
whether there is sufficient reason for its
existence. 1t is true that this modern
room is not kept Theoretically sealed.
as is alleged of the older one. There
are more feast days upon which it is
opened, and children are allowed to sit
upon its handsome chairs and look out
into the street through its lace curtains.
The furniture is arranged more artistic
ally. Still it is not room to be happy
in, and it too often absorbs into itself
the best there is in the house, not only
in the'way of furniture, but also of pict-
ures and books, leaving the living-room
of the family as bare as q desert,
SO far as anything refining and edu-
eating is concerned. That this is not
best, q little thought will show. We who
are so wonderfully made and 50 myste-
riously influenced, gain much by hav-
ing around us every day surroundings
which are elevating and suggestive. So
if there is only one picture in the house
which is worth looking at or studying,
let it hang where it will most frequent
~ attract the attention of the family.
To the thoughtful man who wishes well
to his kind. it is saddening to see peo-
pie spending their money for that which
is not bread. People who think they
can not afford to buy one new book in q
year, or so much as q photograph or
heliotype of a good picture, must have
their parlor "set," q cheap lace in i'm
itation of those who can well afford to
have them. They illustrate the woful
facility we have in copying the failings
of our neighbors instead Of their virtues.
This is not q plea for the utter extinct
tio1 of the parlor. A tasteful reception
ROOM, which may always be in order
for guests and for any strangers whom
you may not wish to introduce into your
family life, is a great convenience, and in
some homes almost anecessity; but 1.-TWO
pleasant, inviting rooms cannot be af-
forded, it would he vastly better to
invariably make the one cheerful, COM
fortably furnished room, with the good
pictures and the books, the room for
the family to meet in and to enjoy.
The money, or part of it, saved by
not INDUCING in . parlor, might be
spent to good advantage in buying
books and objects of interest and in
struction. It is interesting to notice
the value placed upon books by many
who profess loudly to wish for them BY
their always putting them after every
thing else. Such persons would hardly
appreciate Charles Lambs going about
in his threadbare, plum-colored coat.
that he might buy favorite folio.
Nor would they ever be found wonder
ing how much Oliver Wendell Holmes
owes to the fact that he staggered
against books as baby" Who that
has ever attempted to trace back any
OF his own impressions to their source
has not been surprised to find that
deep and lasting ones have been made
BY something in itself very slightP--M
T. Post. .f..,.t