Boarding houses were a little different.
And my understanding is that families were encouraged to take in a boarding vet after WWII while homes were built. I grasped that from some old time radio shows like Burns & Allen.
There are still some restaurants that have family style seating (you may be sitting next to strangers).
Oh, I am going back much further than boarding houses. I am talking Dodge City days of the 1880’s. But we have become a society of strangers.