On 2016-12-26 12:51 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> Nancy Young wrote:

> Growing up in Brooklyn I knew several Italian families that actually
> did have velvet rops cordoning off their dining and living rooms, and
> thse were just regular working people. Guests were received in the
> basement where they did all entertaining and dining, there'd be a
> fully equiped kitchen in the basement, they never used the upstairs
> kitchen. I have to laugh when I remember their upstairs decor,
> Italian Renaissance, all that gold gilt, crystal prisms, extra plush
> carpet vacuumed in one direction, and plastic slip covers. I don't
> remember the dining table set but there'd be several ornate
> arrangements of plastic flowers. Some had a screened 3rd kitchen and
> dining area in their back yard for warm weather use. I wonder if
> that's still done.
>

This could be one of those cases where there is a good solid basis for
stereotypes. There are a lot of Italians around here and they may live
in the same old houses in the old neighbourhood, but when they work
their way up the start getting better furniture and an upgraded kitchen
that is not likely to be used. The cooking is done in the working
kitchen in the basement.

I have posted before about my neigbours. The next door neighbour is
Irish and his wife is Italian. Her parents bought the house on the other
side from ours. Entertaining was done in the family room, which was nice
and very comfortable. There was a more formal living room, but there no
one goes there. Unlike other Italian homes I had been in, they did not
have plastic covers on the cushions and lamp shades.

The first time we were there for dinner at the parents' place I was
concerned for their well being because they had disappeared for over an
hour while their daughter and son in law entertained us. It turned out
that they were down in the basement kitchen cooking up a storm.

The daughter is not like that. She has a nice kitchen and she actually
uses it.