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Shawnee, I started reading the republished version of Mrs Beeton's last night. What it has over the original is that it provides explanations of various things.
e.g. "Drawing room decor was a miasma of ornamentation and colour. A bare room was not acceptable and householders liked to cover every surface with objects and bric-a-brac reflecting their particular aspirations and interests, while making sure everything was correct and nothing would jeopardize their place in 'polite society'. Often the room was adorned with heavy drapes and equally heavy mahogany furniture, bought to last and 'selected because it was correct, moral, worthy, not because it was attractive.' The drawing room was generally so full of furniture and bits and pieces that moving around often proved to be a hazard.
Pretty much every explanation is interesting. I chose this one as it's one of the first and I've always wondered why Australians (for example) have so much more clutter in their houses than say Latin Americans. The above is one possible reason. The other possible explanation is generally people have more money.
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