Searching For Meaning At The Geffrye

While Laura, Olivia and Meredith visited the Shah Abbas special exhibition at the British Museum today, Scott and Cecily headed in an alternative direction. Our destination was the Geffrye Museum--dedicated to documenting the life of Britain's middle class as displayed in their homes at different periods. Getting there was a saga in and of itself. We saw a hitherto unvisited portion of London, peopled by immigrants, not particularly well signed and needing a good scrubbing. After a little wandering around, including a walk by Shakespeare's parish church, we found the museum. It is in an old almshouse--a place where the poor and elderly were allowed to live. Frankly, it looks like they still do. Like most museums we have visited, admission was free. That's good, because I'm not sure people would pay to see the collection--notwithstanding the glossy brochure which seems to promise much more. Once you are past the disappointing neighborhood and non-descript displays, however, there is a lot be learned. The English identity is very much tied up in their homes and their displays of personal wealth and taste and has been for hundreds of years. It was interesting to see how tastes have evolved and changed--and it was certainly preferable to another day at the British Museum.