The Lady’s Maid

The lady’s maid, though she may wear all-white for her morning duties, has a black dress and apron for afternoon and evening; the apron may be pleated or plain. The costume above is from Madame Joseph’s Shop.

The single word “maid” means lady’s maid in that society which has always provided its women with personal attendants. But later-comers to the social game like to make sure there's no mistake about the fact that they have an individual attached to their persons, and so “personal secretary,” (when “private secretary” would be right) and “personal maid” (when “maid” would do) have come to be very usual expressions in this country.

The duty of the employee properly called lady’s maid is that of waiting upon the lady, or ladies, of the house. She would be expected to keep the entire wardrobe in order, and, sometimes, house-linen also is under her charge. This, of course, depends upon her position in the household and on the size of the staff.

With several ladies to look after, especially if their service were exacting, a maid might not be able to do more than meet the obligations of her office, in which case a housemaid might have charge of the up- stairs linen, and the waitress, or parlour-maid, (in some households, the butler) might have charge of the table linen. But in many places the maid has time to take full care of the whole linen-closet and give out its stores.

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Gilded Age Help “Without Beer”

They eat very little meat, most of it salt; the cheapest kind of fish, and then they have potatoes and greens and puddings with treacle; and they are provided with beer, unless in engaging servants it is stipulated that the engagement is “without beer.”

Keeping House In London

An American taking a house in London will learn that she will have to keep more servants in the old country than in the new. These servants are trained, and one who is willing to engage to do many things, is usually willing to take such a position because she is incompetent in everything. 

A small family there would keep a cook, a chambermaid and a waitress. The washing would be put out, and a charwoman would be called in once a week to help with the general cleaning and clearing up. A very good cook can be had for one hundred dollars a year, a chambermaid for sixty dollars, and a smart waitress for eighty dollars. The charwoman will be paid two shillings, or fifty cents a day, and given her beer and food. The washing for such a family will cost from three to four dollars a week. 

In America, such a family would have two women — one a cook, who would also wash and iron, and another as chambermaid and waitress. The servants we have here do more, but they do it more roughly, and are totally deficient in that silent subservience which makes the trained English domestic perform the usual household duties with automatic celerity. 

Generally, you have to have a greater number of servants there than here, but wages are less, and the feeding costs less. There, the servants do not expect to eat just what is provided for the family. Not at all. When the marketing is done special things are bought for the servants, and they have a table for their own, the meals being served at a different hour, and the quality of food very much less in cost. They eat very little meat, most of it salt; the cheapest kind of fish, and then they have potatoes and greens and puddings with treacle; and they are provided with beer, unless in engaging servants it is stipulated that the engagement is “without beer.”— John Gilmer Speed, 1892

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia