07 Dec History of The White Room

It’s that room in many houses that no one is ever allowed in.  Not a hidden, secret room in the basement, but instead a perfectly useable room in the front of the house.  It’s kept in pristine order, and usually has amazingly bright write carpeting covering the floor.  What is this room used for?  Why have it in your house?  Well, let’s take a closer look at this “white room” phenomenon to find out more.

Now-a-days the “white room” is primarily just for show.  It’s an overly fancy dining room that could be used to entertain family or friends.  The idea is; if you can show off how nice your “white room” is, others might infer that you are wealthy or that you have great taste.  Essentially, the “white room” is a way to say “hey, look at me – I’m fancy.”

For this reason, the “white room” is loaded with luxurious items like expensive silverware, painstakingly crafted tables, and of course the white carpet.  This is the kind of carpet that might stain if you look at it too long, one of the reasons it’s kept empty most of the time.  When it isn’t being used the room is normally cut off from foot traffic, preventing unnecessary cleaning.

In some houses, this “white room” doubles as a prayer room.  In the same sense that a family dinner is nicer if it is eaten in a fancy, clean, gorgeous room, those who use the room for prayer also desire to keep it as clean and beautiful as possible.  Still this “white room” has become more and more deserted.

Much like video killed the radio star; television has killed the “white room.”  Before the invention of the television, family dinners were an everyday thing.  A family would come together to discuss the day’s happenings, sitting around a nice dining room table.  Though not always as immaculate as today’s “white rooms” the concept was the same.  However, once the television was invented, families moved away from these weekly dinners around the table, to dinner on the couch in front of the television.

Today, the “white room” is a shrine to a bygone era.  It’s still kept clean, but rarely ever used for its purpose to entertain.  In fact many houses actually have secondary dining rooms that they use to entertain, leaving the “white room” all but obsolete.