Did anyone else grow up in a "museum house"

[Judge Smails]

As dicussed on the show today: brought back a lot of bad memories for me.

I grew up in a "Mother/Daughter House" (at least that's what they called it in Northern NJ - not sure what it's really called). It was a two floor, one family house with a kitchen upstairs and and another downstairs.

The bedrooms were upstairs and basically sleeping was the only time we were allowed to use the upstairs. We woke up and went downstairs immediately. Even though we had 1 1/2 baths upstairs we would have to walk downstairs to take a shower and then back upstairs to get dressed. Once I reached the age of reason (sometime in my teens) I put an end to that and refused to walk all over the house in a wet towel when I had a perfectly good bathroom five feet from my bedroom.

Still, the upstairs had a formal dining room and living room which to this day has maybe been used three times in 30 years. The kitchen has a "brand new" thirty year old dishwasher and stove that have never been used. While most of the cooking is done in the downstairs kitchen they also installed a stove in the garage because my mother doesn't want to stink up or splatter oil in the house kitchen!

The day I moved out of there was the happiest day of my life. Fucking Eye-talians. Anyone else raised like veal in their own home?

[Fezticle98]

As dicussed on the show today: brought back a lot of bad memories for me.

I grew up in a "Mother/Daughter House" (at least that's what they called it in Northern NJ - not sure what it's really called). It was a two floor, one family house with a kitchen upstairs and and another downstairs.

The bedrooms were upstairs and basically sleeping was the only time we were allowed to use the upstairs. We woke up and went downstairs immediately. Even though we had 1 1/2 baths upstairs we would have to walk downstairs to take a shower and then back upstairs to get dressed. Once I reached the age of reason (sometime in my teens) I put an end to that and refused to walk all over the house in a wet towel when I had a perfectly good bathroom five feet from my bedroom.

Still, the upstairs had a formal dining room and living room which to this day has maybe been used three times in 30 years. The kitchen has a "brand new" thirty year old dishwasher and stove that have never been used. While most of the cooking is done in the downstairs kitchen they also installed a stove in the garage because my mother doesn't want to stink up or splatter oil in the house kitchen!

The day I moved out of there was the happiest day of my life. Fucking Eye-talians. Anyone else raised like veal in their own home?

No. Did you have plastic over your couch, you animal? Who would put up with such crazy rules?

[sspkmark]

I too had the off limits living room (no plastic though Mom must have been progressive) When we were in our teens my friends used to bust her chops all the time about it because she "knew" someone was in there because the rug wasnt like it was when she left! My buddy worked at a movie theater in Paramus and stole the velvet ropes and blocked off the living room, and put a shoe on a big stick and made a lone footprint in the middle of the room, we make fun of her till this day, but still nobody under the age of 40 is allowed in that room unless they are an invited party guest(also had a kitchen in the basement And garage so the main kitchen wouldnt get dirty!

[Furtherman]

I had a couple of Italian friends who had the same kind of house. Never liked going over there.


There were four boys in my house. If something wasn't bolted down it inevitably was thrown at someone's head.

[ToiletCrusher]

Just my grandparents house. Not mine.

[Judge Smails]

I have endless examples of the lunacy but I'll just give two more in which they tried to force their crazyness on me.

1) About 8 years ago my parents' car died so they had to get a new one. Much like the guy Ron mentioned, they went out and bought a $65K Cadillac which is too nice to drive. It's stayed in the garage and I can vouch that it has under 5,000 miles on it. About once a month my father takes it out to the Giants Stadium parking lot and drives it around for 10 minutes to keep it in working order. Immediately after getting it they went out and got a cheap-ass Kia which is what they drive around in. Several times they have offered to give me the car but its a huge candy-apple read Cadillac that I'll look like a pimp driving around in and I refuse to take.

2) Back in the 70's sometime they bought a matching pots and pans and dish set for about $700-$800. Now, $700-$800 in 1970's money is a lot of fucking money. So much so that it was obviously too good to actually use so they never took it out of the box. When my wife and I got married they gave it to us. But we weren't about to use it because it was this ugly orange/green, flowery 1970's styled piece of shit set. It took them years to forgive us for not using it and going out and buying our own stuff.

[cougarjake13]

also lived in a mother-daughter home ( 3 stories duplex ) but the downstairs was separated into an 1 bedroom apt, upstairs had 2 floors


turned out great when the apt people moved and i got to move down there

[celery]

I've never even heard of a Mother/Daughter home. My family had a nice dining room/second living room that we never used except when guests were over. But even then it wasn't off-limits, it was just too formal to be comfortable.

I wonder how this [crazy] formality got started and what the reasoning is behind it.

[Judge Smails]

One last thing: When people would come over to the house for the first time my mother would literally take them on a tour of the house. She'd take them from room to room and describe the various items therein like she was a real museum guide.

When my future in-laws (who are as WASPy as they come) came over for the first time, I knew that they would find this odd so I forbid my mother to take them on the tour. Man, was she pissed at me for not letting her show off. She did manage to throw in some facts here and there like how the dining room set was imported from Spain and how much they paid for it.

[Reynolds]

Friend of mine lived in a giant home. Three floors plus an attic, and basement. His dad would have antique guns mounted on the walls, and paintings. One time another friend tried to touch one of the guns, and the father walked in and told him that the gun was worth more than his life.

[joethebartender]

A bunch of modern day Wednesdays and Pugslys on here.


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[drjoek]

I grew up in a nondescipt shitty split level in the suburbs.

[SuperKarateMonkeyDeathFez]

I moved a lot, but more often than not we'd have a den/living room/basement for everyday use and then a fancy "museum" living room somewhere else in the house that was off limits 99% of the time.

[drusilla]

my mom used to call our place grand central station cause there were always different people coming & going at all hours of the day & night. & they would take over the house. some would show up & not even leave for months. even after i moved out it's still like that. i can have people over when i come back home till 8 in the morning & my mom could care less.

i couldn't imagine ever having a museum house

[Ron Marie Douglas]

We had a regular old house where were had access to every room. Except the basement, that's where the bad children lived.

[MacVittie]

I grew up in a brick

























HOUSE.

[Jujubees2]

I grew up in a brick

























HOUSE.


Was it mighty, mighty?

My parent's house didn't even have a dining room. We ate in the kitchen and the small bedroom I shared with my two brothers was off the kitchen. Parents and sister's bedroom was upstairs along with the only bathroom.

Now my Italian grandmother had the type of house you grew up in Judge but she died when I was six so I don't remember much about it.

[Serpico1103]

I know Pitzy mentioned the kitchen in the basement on the show. It is fairly common in Brooklyn to have a second kitchen downstairs. Because the basement is usually one big room it is easy to have large family gathering there. I think also because it stays cooler in the summer. It is fairly common among old school Italians in Brooklyn.