The Tenement Museum was a great “eye opener” for me. I came into the tour expecting a display of various different aspects of tenement life in a museum building, filled with photos and various artifacts giving a very impersonal insight of the time. Once we stepped into 97 Orchard Street, my superficial “museum expectations” were left at the door.

The first thing I noticed were the tiles, which were very reminiscent of large apartment buildings I’ve seen visiting relatives and family friends as a child. Never have I associated this type of flooring with tenement housing or the era in which they existed. The original staircase railing was also present, and seemed to be the sturdiest structure in the building when holding it as we walked up the stairs, creaking eerily.

The hallway was small and cramped, but the rooms were fairly sized, just like the old apartments my family used to visit. However, it was soon revealed that many people, even whole families resided in these tiny rooms. The first was an empty room, with one window. Outside it’s doorway was another, smaller room, and a kitchen, and then the hallway back to the stairs. Inside these two rooms, several people eat, slept, and lived.

The second room was a replication/restoration of how the room was set up during the time a family actually lived in this tenement housing. The cramped space was divided into three smaller rooms, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a workspace. The workspace had various aspects of a small clothing factory. In this room, the man of the family would have workers doing various jobs in manufacturing clothing. Many people would be in this room working quickly and trying to produce as much as possible in their 12+ hour days, being that they were paid by piece produced.

In the kitchen, there was a stove, an ironing board, and a crib, all within close proximity. Coming from a household where small children were not allowed near a stove, even when the gas was off, this was greatly alarming. We were told that the mother would be here pressing the clothes while tending to the baby, clean up after the workers left while tending to the baby, and then cooking dinner for the family while tending to the baby. Almost makes today’s definition of “Super-Mom” an understatement (Just kidding Mom!). But all these events took place in this small room where so many people lived and worked.

The next, and last, room we saw to was from a family who lived in the building a bit later in time. This room appeared a big larger, but was actually smaller in area than the previous space. But without all the work materials present, it felt more like a home. There was a kitchen area, and a dining space, and a common area. They had little showpieces on the mantle. There was also a sofa, but wasn’t only used for sitting; three to four boys would sleep on this sofa, with their heads on the seats and their legs on chairs, every night. The only remotely similar experience I ever had would be sleeping beside two of my cousins when they spent the night, and that was on a bed. Electricity existed in this home and less labor was done within the household, but the family didn’t have, at least by our definition, a perfect life. They still would have to go out to work, and share a small living space between many people in the family.