100 Year Old Dorm Rooms

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

There is one thing in this nearly 100-year-old photo of a dorm room that you would never see in a modern college student's room: http://huff.to/15f74Ym

Every year, it's the same thing: The back-to-school commercials shill "dorm decor" items that just get more ridiculous. The older generations complain about how the younger generations are ridiculous hot-house flowers who won't cut it in the real world. Come September, most of the stuff is in the clearance bin and we've all moved on to complaining about something else.

But this photo of a college dorm room from nearly 100 years ago proves that customizing one's box-sized shared room is as old as the concept of older generations complaining about younger generations.


Photo via State Archives Of North Carolina

Here is a short list of what else hasn't changed in dorm rooms since the 1910s:

- Too many friends in too small of a space
- Using the bed as a gathering spot
- School logo pillows
- Trying to use any photo, artwork or whatever in a vain attempt at making walls seem less institutional
- On-the-door pocket organizer
But the one thing you'd never, ever see in a modern college student's dorm room? That porcelain tea set.