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No Place Like HomeThere’s no place like home. “Hearth & Home” is an American expression, but it’s a concept that has been recognized in virtually every culture worldwide. It is found, for example, in Greek mythology and the Greek goddess Hestia. Hestia was associated with family, domesticity, and with the correct ordering of the household. She found her counterpart in the Roman Vestia, from which we derive the Latin vespers, or evening prayers. Venus is the evening star. This encompasses the modern concept of home economics, but also the nurturing and protecting aspects of family. Even more, “no place like home” is a Biblical concept, which is captured in the idealized role model of husband and wife uniting to create a family. Flying in the face of modernist sensibilities, man is described in the Bible as “defender of the faith” and woman as “keeper at home.” The nuclear family and home -- consisting of husband, wife, and children -- is presented as the basic building block of society. There's no place like home. Nonetheless, the role of “provider” is not limited exclusively to man in the Bible. Interestingly for our topic, the concluding chapter of the Proverbs of Solomon paints the picture of woman as a successful real estate investor and agronomist. Even here, woman is tied to the land. And to the home. “She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong. She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night. This is clearly not the shrinking violet of Victorian literature. Rather it is the “Work-At-Home-Mom”, or WAHM, living out the "no place like home" reality. 
All of this is wrapped up in the idea that there's no place like home. A haven of rest to which man retires and finds contentment and rejuvenation. This conjures images of wood burning stoves, decorative fireplace screens, and families together seeking happiness in the simple pleasures. It finds expression in countless colloquilisms and clichés:
How do we define that point at which a home becomes merely a house? On what day did the sands of time etch the imprimatur of “old” or “ugly” on her siding. In what season did new home “fashion” morph into old house “old-fashioned?”
Perhaps no piece of Americana captures all of this better than the song This Old House, which rose to the top of the charts in 1954. It is of course, the theme song of this site and is one of our most popular songs of remembrance. Written and published originally by Stuart Hamblen in 1954, it was immediately recorded by Rosemary Clooney and topped the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom that year. Shakin Stevens also did a rendition in the UK.
Stuart Hamblen was a radio personality who got his start in the 1920’s and sang and acted with stars such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and John Wayne. The inspiration for the song came from an old house that Hamblen and a friend found on a hunting and fishing trip. Inside was the dead body of the owner. Hamblen composed the song on the spot and the melody came to him within the week. Although it is an analogy of the aging process and impending death, the cadence is quick and the tone is upbeat and optimistic. The body is pictured as falling apart, but the soul is vibrant, alive, and happy in the prospect of soon being released to heaven. 
It was an expression of Hamblen’s evangelical faith, best captured in the words of Christ at John 11:23-26 after the death of Lazarus: Jesus said to her: ”Your brother shall rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
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