Why Did People Have So Many Servants?

[JimDixon]

Remember, all those servants were not only taking care of the owner and his family; they were taking care of each other as well. They all had to be cooked for, had to have their laundry done, their clothes mended, etc.

[virgilxavier]

Everything had to be cleaned to a standard that only occurs to people who don't have to work -so true.

[hywodena]

Also keep in mind that every servant has their own needs to meet. It's like having a tiny village in the house

[matthewsalmon]

And being a house servant was considered one of the good jobs you'd seek letters of reference for.

[brookebaker]

The amount of time and energy to do laundry alone was monumental. My Great Grandmother (born in 1925) still talks about how exciting it was to get her first washing machine in the late 1940s. She had to put her name on a waiting list to get it.

[jordanmcgrory]

The other way to think about it is to think of everything for which we have a machine. Heating your home is a few buttons now, but in the nineteenth century you needed a boy to mind all the fires. Washing clothes? Again a few buttons now, but hours of manual work in the nineteenth century...

[davidshi]

Also, back then they would frequently have guests stay at their house and host dinner parties

[peternakitch]

My mother’s second job (circa 1946) as a 16 year old was a junior maid in a Scottish country house; endless work not just in the 19th century. She also said the family was very good at pretending the servants didn’t exist, except when they wanted something. She said she found working in upscale hotels in London much easier, she emigrated to Australia in the late 1950’s where among other jobs she worked as barmaid.

[willdean-stobie]

About 20 years ago I was at a very wealthy family's stable in Kentucky. The main barn had a massive chandelier in it. Which was sparkling it was so clean. I learned that on the property there so many chandeliers in all the various houses, along with the one in the main barn, they had a couple who went around and cleaned them all over and over again. That was their entire job, cleaning the chandeliers on the property. The things rich people decide are important to them is something else.

[gaaraofthefunk]

“And partly, because everything has to be cleaned to the kinds of standards that only occur to people who don’t have to do the work”
❤ THIS ✨ 🙌🏽

[banannakis]

The thing I find amazing about history. It's actually been a short time since we had the luxuries of clean running water, inside plumbing, electricity, and ready-made food as some examples. Common things that we have now that make our lives ten times easier, were not even a dream they could think of.

[br]

My great grandma was a domestic servant before she got married. I only heard this second hand from my grandma, but apparently she never got over her last employer's habit of going through the basement with white gloves to check for dust on the storage shelves. Not to mention rolling a peeled boiled egg over the floors upstairs to check for any dirt.
Insane.

[clearlieme]

Gosh I don't know how many staff was typical for my family, but i know when my grandfather sold the (26 bedroom) estate there was a clause in the contract that the SEVERAL families living in cottages on its title be allowed to continue living there for the course of their natural lives.

[Nativecary]

I'm grateful for all the buttons I push that do the hard work for me!

[ericturner]

Think of all the laundry washed by hand, hung to dry, folded, and put away _every day_ . Chamber pots to empty. Horses to care for. The list goes on and on.

[Leo-sdjt]

The problem with the process of cleaning the staircase...

...is that there's so many steps involved!

Thank you! Thank you! I'm here all week!

(dodges boos and thrown fruit)

[karenneill]

The other thing is that a properly run manor house would be producing for their whole estate. When you made candles, the good ones stayed at the house, the warped ones when to the families on the estate. When you had a huge roast pig, it wasn’t just the estate owners who ate it, everyone did. When fancy clothes were finished with, the6 were taken apart and made into clothes for others. It wasn’t equitable, of course, but it was an entire system.

[sebeckley]

I recently read a memoir of a man who was a child in the 1920s and 30s. His family of 5 had 7 full-time servants: cook, butler, mom's personal maid, house maid, laundress, dad's valet, chauffeur, and mom's secretary. 5 of them lived in.

[NYCZ]

The TV show “by the sword divided” does a decent job of depicting life among the servants of a great house in the early modern period.

[jakobraahauge]

My dear, sweet, beloved aunt was the matriarch of the main house of a huge estate, despite the technological advances it was a huge work load, my grand cousins did a lot of work, and from I was 8 when I was invited I knew that I would be busy and on my feet. When I was confirmed (by 13)I was kinda promoted, and I got to serve ad do dishes. Whenever someone spilled my aunt would find what products to use, and instruct me in cleaning it - she had a few people helping her about 20 hours a week. Her mother in law had 5 servants, her mother had 26!
Now no one has servants, only cleaning and gardeners, but everybody has an accountanting firm, barrister, bankiers, and physical trainer - and a psychologist besides the doctor, dentist, and hair cutter. I guess we just got better at making a profit on like... everything.
Lots of love from Denmark 🤗