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hiAndrewQuinnyesterday at 6:02 PM2 repliesview on HN

I think the operating word here is not "mattress" but "kitchen". How cramped do things have to be to need to put the guest mattress in the kitchen?


Replies

buran77yesterday at 7:24 PM

In most of the Eastern block the accommodation given to a family was sized for that family. Few had the luxury of a completely unused room.

The kitchen was routinely used as a room for two reasons, one that it was obviously a room, the second because it was easy to heat with the stove being right there. A lot of families were using the kitchen as permanent living space, usually relegating the grandparents to that worst room so the young ones could get a decent start in life.

Symbioteyesterday at 6:45 PM

They were 19 and 25.

It doesn't seem that crazy that there would be very little space. Visiting parents and/or grandparents probably got the bedroom, some friends the living room.