Cseri Miklós, Füzes Endre (szerk.): Ház és ember, A Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum évkönyve 12. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 1998)

ZENTAI TÜNDE: A földön alvás szerepe az újkori népi lakáskultúrában

the symptom of backwardness in view of the existing living standard. The practice is mainly in use in the poorer families. Their number is considerable, especially in the backward, poor regions of the country. The population explosion in the 18th century maintains and temporarily even strengthens the custom of sleeping on the floor. Furthermore, the feudal extended family system (siblings with their families live under the same roof and cultivate together their land) is still thriving. A family with 15-20 members is not unusual. Although many houses are extended by joining bed-chambers, a sleeping place on the floor of the room is allocated to several family members. Following earlier customs, women sleep in hot summer nights on the kitchen floor, resting their heads on the threshold, while men choose the porch, the shed or they sleep in the open, be it in the yard or out in the fields. From that time on more and more people sleep in the roof space from spring to autumn, where beds are also made on the floor. The chapter Rising into the middle-class and backwardness presents the circumstances of the 19th century. It is characteristic for this century that the farm economy is approaching capitalist aims from the 1830s onwards, which process is speeding up in the second half of the century due to the emancipation of serfs in 1848 and to the boom in corn. Regarding living quality and interiors we observe an increasing number of furniture and the popularity of decorated furniture made by cabinet-makers. We find in the average farmhouse more than one bed. 242 beds in 86 houses are conscribed in the domain of Keszthely between 1821 and 1849. We witness a change in the attitude of mind towards the practice of sleeping on the ground: it is no more a cultural element, it rather hints at social problems. The bed and its use belong to the average living standard of the working classes, however, many live below this level due to the fast polarisation of the peasantry. The owners of only 1-2 acres, the landless offspring of villains, the estate workers and clan-members kept as servants often sleep without bed. In these cases, the custom is preserved by the lack of property. Some elements rooted in the tradition, survive at the same time within narrow limits till the turn of the century: people sleep on the kitchen floor in summertime in the Great Hungarian Plain, young men in the whole country have their sleeping place during winter in the stable (although seldom on the floor) and in the attic and the bed of a dying person is made on the floor in the living-room. The middle class bedroom and the seamy side of the culture of the rural housing - is the title of the chapter on how the dwelling culture is affected by the industrial revolution speeding up from the last decades of the 19th century. Town-house comfort is met in the houses of rich farmers at the turn of the century. Families are no more that big and every member has his own bed. From the end of the 19th century, in backward regions from the 1930s, well-to-do people purchase complete bedroom furniture consisting of twin-bed, side tables and wardrobes. The practice of sleeping on the floor survives however under necessity among the landless field labourers, although less and less. By the 1960s furnishing of homes with ready-made furniture is in general use and sleeping on the floor indoors is exceptional, even if not completely absent. The restructuring of society and the reviving capitalism of the 1980s brought forth an increasing number of unemployed and homeless people who revive the practice. The study of Tünde ZENTAI is the first Hungarian synthesis of the subject „Sleeping on the floor". The essay presents the circumstances and the historical trend of the practice by making use of rich evidence (historical records, ethnographic observation, interviews etc.). The analysis of the rich sources of data leads her to the conclusion that sleeping on the floor in early modern times - besides the use of beds - part of the popular living culture was, however, with the tendency of disappearing from the 17th century onwards. From the 18th century the custom hints at social backwardness in view of the general culture of sleeping, although some traditional elements of the practice continue to survive. The review refers to a great number of examples abroad, the history of the custom in modern times being well traceable in other European countries as well. The phenomenon as social problem in the lowest strata of society is present even today almost everywhere.