One of my favorite historical trivium that I’ve learned lately: one thing museums can’t show us. Because museums are collections of stuff. But it turns out that, until the Industrial Revolution, people didn’t have any stuff. They didn’t have furniture. They didn’t have beds. They didn’t have tables. They sat on the floor or they sat on boxes. They ate with their bowl in one hand and a fork in the other.
That’s why sometimes you see old books that describe the poor of the past as “squatters and leaners.” Because you can’t sit unless you can afford a chair.
Now, how is a museum going to show you that? What kind of museum doesn’t have anything in it? Apparently an accurate one.