Tenement House-Laura Mersman

Today we had class in the morning and then headed for the Tenement House. To give some background on tenements: they are housing buildings often four stories high that contain housing for up to 16 families. They came into their popularity in the 19th century in Glasgow as the population was rising dramatically. The population grew from around 250,000 people in 1841 to over one million in 1912- a huge increase for one city to try and absorb. The majority of Glasgowians lived in housing of this sort up until the 1950s, no matter how rich or poor they were. Many lower income families lived in tenement flats that consisted of one room. This room would be where they cooked, slept, and did all of their other business, a bit crowded if you were a family with a few children. All houses were connected by one single staircase going up the middle- four families on a floor, four floors total.

This particular flat has been preserved in the time period of 1910-1960 and shows how day to day life was lived during this time. It recreates the life that Miss Agnes Toward lived for 50 years while she worked as a shorthand typist. The building which contains other tenement flats was built in 1892. Her flat consisted of four rooms- a bathroom, sitting room, kitchen, and bedroom. Both the sitting room and kitchen contained a bed closet which according to information in the museum actually became illegal to be built in 1900. A bed closet literally consisted of a closet fit to the exact size of a bed with no standing room with just a shelf above it. A staff member in the house told us that Scottish people hundreds of years ago were much shorter and as time went on the beds slowly got bigger to accommodate for the increase in height.

The range in the kitchen as well as many of the ornamental decorations are original from the time when Miss Toward lived there. For those that have not withstood the test of time, the caretakers and preservers of the Tenement House have done their best to duplicate what previously was there. The rugs did not last, but rugs that are similar to that time period have been put in. The wallpaper was covered over, but upon removing other layers within this flat and others in the building, they were able to discover the original design and then rewallpaper with a design that was very similar.

Information in the museum below the Tenement House gave detail on how these accommodations were rented, as well things that were going on at the time. Most of the tenement houses during this time period were rented on a yearly basis. This was very difficult for many people during because not only was there economic turmoil, but no matter whether they caught an illness or were suddenly unemployed, they were still expected to pay the year’s rent. If they were unable to pay rent, they were evicted. The tenements were owned by landlords who employed a person known as a factor to collect the rent for them. Often the renters had no idea who their landlord was and knew only of the factor. I found this interesting because in America, at least in current times, the landlord is normally always the person you pay rent to, and there is no go between person.

The town of Glasgow during this time was very dirty and many diseases and illnesses were being spread. The conditions described reminded me of the living conditions that factory workers in America experienced during the Industrial Revolution. This was also a time of famine and illness and many of the immigrants were poor and living in tiny establishments—there were too many people coming in at once, and this also seemed to happen in Glasgow. Highlanders of Scotland as well as immigrants from the Scottish potato famine moved to Glasgow. They moved for a new start, not realizing the turmoil they would face- just like many immigrants did in America.

Tomorrow is our first test for our second course in Scotland, and after that we will have our final free weekend- it has gone so quickly! Have a super day readers!