COMING OUT ON THE CLOSET

Anyone who makes a habit taking formal tours of American historical homes from the 19th Century or earlier will note than many of these houses--or even mansions--did not have closets in most of the bedrooms or a central closet for overcoats and the like. The explanation provided by the tour guides for this phenomenon is usually something along the lines of "the tax on the house was based on the number of rooms, and each closet counted as a separate room." In other words, like today, where virtually every financial decision is not based on its own merits but instead on the tax consequences, the imposition of taxes influenced architecture and encouraged the construction of dwellings without much closet space.

An internet search will reveal that many persons still subscribe to this theory, while many others maintain that closets were not ubiquitous in the past simply because they were not necessary then where people had far fewer garments, which would fit nicely in a dresser, chest, or armoire. In support of their hypothesis, the tax-theory naysayers often refer to an unidentified study done by an unknown person at an unspecified time which established that there were no such tax laws in the original thirteen colonies. They also cite to examples of specific old houses which in fact had a closet or two.

Well, who is right in this highly emotionally-charged controversy? I don't really know--probably both sides. I do not believe, for a variety of reasons, that  the tax theory should be automatically discarded, including: 1) "Closet" in the old days did not refer merely to a small enclosure built as a component of a room--it was also used as a term for a small room used for prayer, study, or contemplation. 2) Presuming that someone did in fact establish that there were no "closet = room" laws in the tax codes of the original thirteen colonies, that does not mean that such a provision did not arise in other states or territories or that it did not originally exist when the colonies belonged to England (which for sure had weird revenue provisions, such as the dreaded and paneful "window tax" of 1696). 3) The fact that some old houses had some closets does not prove that they were not taxed--only that the owner was willing to take on the tax burden. 4) I embrace and automatically accept as true any and all hypotheses purporting to illustrate how misuse of the power to tax has all sorts of unanticipated consequences.

Ironically, with the advent in modern construction of huge walk-in enclosures for garments complete with windows, electricity, heating/cooling ducts, and furnishings, many closets are now in fact rooms for all practical purposes.