We went to Graceland a few years ago and it was interesting to see basically a normal working home turned into a museum. It got me thinking, how interesting would it be to do that in your own home? Basically, create a “typical American household in the year X” exhibit.
You would set up some ropes to guide people through the place from room to room. Put up little placards around typical household items explaining that this is a “tv remote control” or “stack of folded laundry” or “door mat” or whatever. Describe the items: “Whereas earlier television sets required viewers to make adjustments to volume or channel on the sets themselves, remote controls allowed watchers to make these adjustments from the comfort of their own couches. The phenomenon of ‘channel surfing’ enabled by remote operation, coupled with the availability of snacks like these nearby ‘Cheetos’ and ‘Oreos’ gave rise to another term: ‘couch potato’.”
You could take this one step further by adding details to items clarifying if it was a typical thing found in most households (a microwave oven, a couch) or something specific and special and unusual for just this house (a vacation keepsake, a piece of art), or even something common to a region but uncommon elsewhere (an oil heating tank, a combination washer/dryer).
Might be neat to do someday. Maybe even just do one room, a few objects. It would be interesting to really think about the items that surround us in everyday life and what they really represent and how they came to be…and even what is “typical” or regional.
