I love looking at these photos. They make me so thankful for the place I live in now.

Once upon a time, a man had two shirts. The children shared shoes. Every single item in the kitchen was used. All one owned one could see in their home. How we all should long for such purpose.

i think they're beautiful.

@medusa12120 - you long for poverty?

@vinospizza

I don't think medusa meant exactly the "two shirts and having the kids share shoes", but the gist of the rest of it is quite reasonable.

I've been paring down possessions gradually over the years even though I certainly have plenty of space for it. Mostly because it's the opposite of what my parents did -- I watched them accumulate growing up, and now <B>I'M</B> the one dealing with the effects.

It's not poverty. It's not even being cheap. It's looking at the overall value of everything. It's analytical and probably a bit obsessive, but it pays off in the long tail. Though for the 2-shirts... it's possible. I bought 2 new (Ralph Lauren) polos this weekend. They weren't cheap, but the reality is the one that was given to me as a gift 4 years ago is in WAY better shape than any of the Gap and Old Navy ones that are falling apart in under 2 years.

These are beautiful! I wish my kitchen were this lovely. Of course I'm thankful for the modern amenities my kitchen has, but I wouldn't mind some of the charm of these ones - the windows, the trim, the cheery paint colors, the built in china cabinets. All we have in common is limited counter space and cramped quarters.

Thanks for the post. Its amazing that now we hide away things we use every day as if they were pornography. ( Not that I'm suggesting any AT readers own pornography).

i know someone who (living in the city) went to the tenement museum and everyone there was saying "look at how small and cramped" etc, while she thought "it's still bigger than my place..."

The tenement museum is an amazing museum.

Agree with the comments about paring down. There's nothing more beautiful to me than a simple space with just enough furnishings to be comfortable and practical, and none more than that. It's not about poverty, it's about consumption. Have what you use, and not what you don't. Do you really the need the apple corer, bagel slicer, garlic press, food processor, blender, smoothie machine, juicer, and dehydrator? Or could you suffice with a set of knives, a cutting board, and a couple pots? About quality, perhaps a good set of enamel cookware that can be passed down for generations is a better idea than the quickly ruined Teflon we use today. Just some thoughts... :)

In the sixties, I stayed in one of those appartments in the Lower East side, for a few weeks, with a few friends. I remember the bathtub in the kitchen, right near the entrance door, which was so impractical that some of us just didn't bathe. I never regretted finding a better pad as soon as I could afford it...

Makes me want to re-read (again) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn... :)

My apartment is a tenement. I love it. Cast iron tub. Double porcelain sink, three electric outlets in the whole place. Railroad with no doors between rooms. Plumbing hasn't been renovated, I think, ever. These pics of people's "renovated tenements" are not tenements at all. Come over sometime. I'll show you. This is New York the way it used to be, and that's the way I want it to stay.

Ditto msjessica! They've been taking the old sinks out of some of the apartments, but I'll never let them take mine :) I love it! My building was built in 1890, and I feel like I'm living in a piece of history :)

Thank you Foof. Vino had completely missed my point.

At the risk of becoming a person who argues on the internet, I have to take Vino's side here.

Though this may represent inspirational simplicity to you, it seems disrespectful at worst and anachronistic at best to take these pictures and talk about simplicity.

Simplicity is a choice. Poverty is not. Simplicity is willfully paring down to only what you need. Poverty is not having what you need or a choice in the matter.

I'm not challenging the merit of investing in fewer personal possessions, but that action represents the opposite of the scarcity of poverty. Investment is a supreme act of economic agency- it is the ability to save money, spend more, and choose when to spend.

The merit of simplicity aside, I think it's ridiculous to look at these examples of poverty and say that's what we should learn from it. Without the element of choice, this isn't simplicity, it's desperation.

For a couple, maybe three people that kitchen seems serviceable in size. But then, most families had upwards of four or five children at the time.
@livc
There is something great about the idea of having only a few high-quality items that will last for generations, and it's the sort of thing I want to do, but I always worry that the cost of truly durable goods doesn't make good fiscal sense for someone like me who is just thinking of getting their first apartment.

sort of agreeing with LzzyJane, only bc AT frequently posts huge spaces on huge budgets, sometimes coupled with comments about all of us presumptuously aspiring to a own a 'house'...then we see this and i have to wonder if ATs perspective equates poverty with romanticism...

I hear you LzzyJane.

There is a name for pseudo poetic ramblings and nostalgia for poverty in the good old days: miserabilism, or the culture of misery, or better still, misery as a cult.

so basically NYC always had and always will have closet/post stamp sized kitchens and kitchen-ette's.

In all honesty, they are possibly even larger than many are now.

I think for people outside NYC this may be really interesting.
They should just know, it hasn't changed! :-)

Some of it would high end today. I would love to have wood floors, or actually real wood trim, the transom over the door, or the built in cabinets. The organic part of it so beautiful.

But tiny is hard to deal with. I guess space or square footage is always a luxury.