I am still a little confused on what exactly the parlors were. Could somebody please give me a good descriptions on what a parlor was and what they possibly looked like?

Along time ago, there was a room in the front of a house called a parlor. It was mostly for sitting with guests and just talking, but in F 541 it is a room with 3 walls of televisions.

So basically, it is just like an entertainment room. I see now. Thanks.

Parlors are also sometimes called the "front room" or living room. When homes had living rooms and family rooms (as opposed to today's great rooms), the living room was considered the parlor; the only time it was used was when company came over.

Korby,

I must say that sounds like a very British usage to me. Do Americans use it that way, too?

Phil (resident Englishman)
www.bradburymedia.co.uk

Most definately so. Tea would be served in the parlor. After dinner, men would "repair to the parlor" for cigars and a drink.

But Korby is correct, is was the "living" or "front" room and definately not the entertainment room in the modern sense. The only entertainment there, in addition to the tea, cigars and after dinner drinks, would be the delightful conversatioon amongst those gathered there.

Reminds me of a line from an old Firesign Theatre bit in which the butler says,
"...you can sit here in the Waiting Room, or you can wait here in the Sitting Room."

Well, I just think back to my grandparents' living room (or parlor....or parlour, if you prefer!); kids were NOT allowed in there and I remember the furniture all covered in plastic! Never seemed like a place kids would want to be, anyway!

Phil, maybe I was British in a previous life!

"The only entertainment there, in addition to the tea, cigars and after dinner drinks, would be the delightful conversatioon amongst those gathered there."

Quite a contrast to the type of "entertaining" being done in the parlor in F451, huh? I bet Ray chose the word "parlor" for that very purpose...

Doesn't parlor also have a few sleazy connotations, such as billiards and other amusements?

We never had a parlour, but in some of my older aunts' houses there was a room called the 'beste kamer' (literal translation: 'best room'), which usually contained expensive pieces of furniture and art. You weren't supposed to enter them, so there was a certain sense of mystery surrounding them.