Plastic Covered Couches. You Can’t Sit There.
If you grew up in a certain era you know the meaning behind the plastic covered couch. The only piece of furniture that seemed to cause brown moms to yell at their kids because those “sacred cushions” were only meant for the bottoms of special guests.
You know the feeling of pure ecstasy that ran through your entire being when your little bottom could graze those seats. You savored every moment you could sit on that cold squeaky plastic until the skin on your thighs began to sweat and you had to peel your body off of it like you were removing a sticker from a glass jar. Although sometimes painful, the feeling was always worth it because you knew that you were a part of a rare moment in your household.
This same type of couch, and probably the same feeling, can be found at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side of New York. The museum recently launched an amazing tour called “Under One Roof” that tells the stories of three families, the Epsteins, Saez-Velezes, and the Wongs, who lived at 103 Orchard.
The stories told here powerfully evoke connections and memories for those in present day, as well as share the somewhat lost or silenced history of the people who lived during those decades and whose work helped to shape the lives of today.
In a silly way, that plastic covered couch not only linked to the past tenants of 103 Orchard, but to my own history and the memories created through a single piece of furniture. This universal object has the capacity to cross all boarders, religions, and upbringings. Always evoking similar memories and creating a tiny piece of unity among us all. Who knew those “sacred cushions” held such great power.
Resources:
Tenement Museum (2018) Ode to a plastic covered couch. Retrieved on February 16, 2018 from http://tenement.org/blog/ode-to-a-plastic-covered-couch/
