Case study - The Tenement Museum, New York

Founded in 1988, the heart of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is its landmark tenement building at 97 Orchard Street in New York City.

The Tenement Museum, New York

The mission of the museum is to "promote tolerance and historical perspective through the presentation and interpretation of the variety of immigrant and migrant experiences on Manhattan's Lower East Side, a gateway to America".

One of the ways the museum accomplishes this mission is through the presentation of the stories of the building's former residents. These stories are told in rooms that are restored and recreated to historic time periods.

The furniture, clothing, architectural features and decorative elements of these restored apartments all lend to the visitor's understanding of the lives of the people who lived in the building. Dale Air has offered the museum the opportunity to present a critical aspect of these stories. Residents of both 97 Orchard Street and other tenement buildings have consistently remarked on the wealth of smells that dominated their homes.

In adding Dale Air's Coal Fire themed aroma to an 1878 apartment, the museum is able to replicate the odor of a smouldering coal stove in a cramped tenement kitchen. As visitors walk down the hallway, they are subconciously aware of the scent. When the door opens to the apartment, the familair smell of the stove is clearly evident.

Before the docent begins to explain the setting, visitors get an immediate sense of what they will be experiencing. This kind of intuitive response greatly enhances the museum's ability to tell the stories of the building's previous tenants by providing a comprehensive sense experience that augments the docent's presentation.

For further information, please visit: www.tenement.org

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