Why have parlors disappeared from contemporary homes?
As customs and lifestyles changed in the 1900s, people used parlors less frequently, and so it seemed unnecessary to build or keep a room that had little purpose. If a home had a parlor, it was changed into something else, and the term living room became a part of home design, as well as the vocabulary. Comfortable furniture began to replace stiff, showy pieces and the family began to use the room for less formal purposes. Also, funeral customs changed as people began to take their loved ones to professional funeral parlors rather than lay them out themselves. Thus, as people in the twenty-first century adopt technological improvements, they live in houses with computer rooms and home theatres rather than parlors. Did the Zacharias family decorate the parlor for holidays? Most certainly, yes! Christmas decorations became very popular after the Civil War. In fact, the practice of Christmas themed decorating became a means toward American unification. Both North and South could focus on
