diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/63180-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/63180-0.txt | 3056 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 3056 deletions
diff --git a/old/63180-0.txt b/old/63180-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4d3a2cf..0000000 --- a/old/63180-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3056 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Letters to a Young Housekeeper, by Jane Prince - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Letters to a Young Housekeeper - - -Author: Jane Prince - - - -Release Date: September 11, 2020 [eBook #63180] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER*** - - -E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/letterstoyoungho00prin - - - Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8 - text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should - consult the html version or the original page images noted - above. - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores - (_italics_). - - - - - -LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER ❧ ❧ - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - -LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER - -by - -JANE PRINCE - - -[Illustration: Publisher’s Logo] - - - - - - -Boston & New York -Houghton Mifflin Company -The Riverside Press Cambridge -1917 - -Copyright, 1917, by Houghton Mifflin Company - -All Rights Reserved - -Published February 1917 - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TO - - MY SISTER - - - AT WHOSE SUGGESTION THESE LETTERS - - WERE WRITTEN FOR SOME - - YOUNG FRIENDS - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ❧ TABLE OF CONTENTS ❧ - - - 1. Economy in the Household 1 - - 2. The Budget 17 - - 3. Servants 29 - - 4. Maid of all Work 57 - - 5. Weekly Cleaning 73 - - 6. Family Meals 85 - - 7. Duties of Servants 103 - - 8. Behind the Scenes at a 137 - Dinner - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - LETTERS TO A YOUNG - HOUSEKEEPER ❧ ❧ - - - - - CHAPTER I ⬩ ECONOMY - IN THE HOUSEHOLD - - - YORK HARBOR, _June 20_. - -_Dear Penelope_: - -You have no idea how your plaintive little “wail” in the form of a -letter went right to my heart, or what memories long forgotten it -brought back to me of my early married life. You are perfectly right in -thinking that I too had my “experiences,” and I am so pleased that you -came to me to see if I could help you by recalling what I actually went -through myself and what those “experiences,” almost tragic to me at the -time, brought about in the way of remedies. - -I have no doubt that it will seem “like a leaf out of your own book” -when I tell you that when we began housekeeping I started, as a matter -of course, in about the same way of living that I had been accustomed to -in my mother’s house. This was my standard and I knew no other. What was -my horror to find, when the end of the month came, that I was taking so -much for table expenses that we had little left for anything else. This -discovery nearly reduced me to tears, for we had both been brought up as -you have, with a great dread of living beyond our means. - -Our first thought was to move into a house with lower rent, but, after -considering the question from all points of view, we decided to remain -where we were and find some other way of cutting down our expenses. This -was a difficult problem for any one so inexperienced and who had never -had to think much about economy, but it was the very same problem that -you are facing in very much the same way, and I did just what you are -doing, consulted a friend in whom we had confidence and who had had -years of experience. This consultation encouraged me to feel that there -were many changes I could make in our way of living, and I was honestly -amazed to find how much that seemed necessary for the table, just -because I had always been accustomed to it, was not necessary at all, -but that one was quite as well off without it. - -I came home full of enthusiasm to see what I could do. Then came a -serious settling down to the subject and a careful looking into ways and -means. Together my husband and I talked over his income and decided what -proportion we should allow for the table. The next month was to be a -practice month, carefully watching how the money went, in order to make -a plan for other months. How interesting it seemed! It meant that I had -a vocation as well as my husband; that, by careful thought, I could make -him feel that it was worth while to work hard if what he earned went -just as far as it could and if when he came home tired he found my part -attended to so well that the home was comfortable and serene. For why, -if he went faithfully to his business daily, as a matter of course, in -order to give me the wherewithal to run the house, should not I do my -part as seriously and faithfully? - -From that time economy and the management of the household took a new -interest, and what had been drudgery became a fascinating puzzle. I -plunged into the study of good cookery books, learning all I could about -the different cuts of meat, how to tell good fowl, etc., so that I could -choose well and make the money go as far as possible. In this search I -discovered that the cheaper cuts of meat are sometimes the most -nourishing and can be made tender by long cooking and very palatable in -various ways. I also learned a great many different receipts for cooking -the less expensive vegetables and serving them in an attractive way to -give variety with the least expense. - -I then started with my practice month in this way: I bought groceries in -small quantities, only as much as we needed for a few days at a time, -asking the price of things and keeping an account of them to check off -with the bill when it came at the end of the month. Bills are a torment -with a small income, so, while I found the bills for staple groceries, -ice, and milk almost a necessity, I paid cash for all other articles of -food; that is, meat, vegetables, fish, eggs, butter, etc. I went to -market two or three times a week buying and paying for everything on the -spot and seeing everything weighed and measured that was sold in that -way. At the end of this practice month I made a list of what we had used -in groceries, ice, and milk, and also added together all the cash spent -on the other articles of food. With the grocery list in hand, at the -beginning of the second month, I laid in a complete supply of groceries -for the whole month, keeping it in a storeroom and giving out each -morning enough for the day’s needs. Of course some months we used a -little more, some a little less, but it averaged pretty even and was a -good guide. I laid in laundry soap by the box, because to keep a box -ahead, if you can, is the best economy, for it lasts twice as long if it -is stacked on shelves with spaces between the cakes so that it can dry -thoroughly before using. - -The amount of groceries, milk, and ice we should use per month having -been decided upon as nearly as I could, we divided the _cash_ I had -spent on the other food during this practice month by 30, to see what -allowance this would give me per day. Then, when I went to market I took -with me in my marketing purse only the exact sum we allowed for the -number of days for which I was marketing. Otherwise I felt sure I should -spend too much, as the markets are so tempting and human nature so -frail! - -Luxuries we did not have; we were young and did not need them and we -have never regretted that we saved them in order to have them in our old -age. Finding fancy groceries expensive, I did not buy them, but tried to -put the money we had allowed ourselves for the table into nutritious -food. Before going to market I used to make a rough outline ahead of the -meals and take with me a list of what was needed for them. One is much -more apt to have variety by thinking ahead, and taking a list to market -is an economy, for, while one may change it after getting there, and -substitute one article of food for another, still there is less -likelihood of getting unnecessary things. - -Money spent on a few good cookery books is well spent, for without their -suggestions one is apt to fall into a rut, and this the family cannot -forgive. No cook left to herself does her best. She needs constant -supervision; to be told, “a little more salt here,” “more sugar there,” -“slower cooking,” etc., and also to be praised for what is good. If the -praise is not given, the cook gets discouraged; if mistakes are -overlooked, she gets careless. As some cooks don’t take correction -pleasantly, however well given, you will find that it works best to give -it at the end of your morning talk when all the ordering is finished. - -In beginning with a new cook, it is well to explain at once to her that -you want her to lay aside everything that is left over, if only a -tablespoonful, putting it into the wire safe or refrigerator for you to -decide about the next morning. This is not generally done by American -housekeepers, so that, at first, cooks are apt to think you are mean -unless you explain to them cheerfully and pleasantly that it is in order -to have a greater variety and that this is one of the reasons that the -French cookery is so good. - -You will find in some of your receipt books about the French -_pot-au-feu_ and can learn from this how to manage your own soup pot, -using the bones left over from roasts, etc., to start a stock and -varying this soup each day with left-overs, such as even a tablespoon of -peas or some spinach (strained), or string beans, tomatoes, shreds of -lettuce, or creamed oyster plant. This may not _sound_ especially good -to you, but my cook now makes soups that surprise me by their good -flavor and variety in just this way. - -These left-overs also make good salads, sometimes the basis being -potatoes, to which is added a few beets, a little shredded lettuce, or, -in addition, some meat chopped up, each thing being too small a quantity -in itself for any one dish. Thus, a hearty and good salad or a hot dish -is evolved from what many people allow to be thrown away. I would advise -you to study some of the scientific diet menus that are published now -and find out the relative values in nutriment of the different foods. -Among the ideas of value to you you will discover that there are many -foods, such as cheese, peas, lentils, and beans, which take the place of -meat. As, for example, one pound of cheese equals two pounds of beef in -nutriment. - -Eloise is at my elbow imploring me to stop writing and give _her_ some -advice about her dress for Mrs. Blake’s fancy ball, so I mustn’t run on -any more. Don’t hesitate to tell me anything that troubles you, for it -will be such a pleasure to me if I can help you. - - Very affectionately yours, - - _Jane Prince_. - - -P. S. Some days, when you don’t feel well, it is hard to think of the -menu, so I would advise you, whenever you have tried a receipt and found -it good, to write in a blank book, kept for the purpose, the name of the -dish, the title of the cookery book, and the page on which you found the -receipt; thus: “_Fish pudding_, Mary Ronald’s Century Cook-Book, page -123.” Before you know it you will have a book, not of receipts, but of -suggestions, which will tell you just where to look for the sort of dish -you want for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In order to make it perfectly -easy to turn at once to any especial dish, divide the blank book, before -you make any entries in it, into as many sections as may be convenient, -leaving several pages to each section: - - So many pages for _relishes_ - So many pages for _soups without meat_ - So many pages for _meat soups_ - So many pages for _fish soups_ - So many pages for _fish receipts_ - So many pages for _entrées_ - So many pages for _meats_ - So many pages for _vegetables_ - So many pages for _salads_ - So many pages for _desserts_ - So many pages for _lunch dishes_ - So many pages for _breads and cakes_ - So many pages for _eggs_ - -Can’t you imagine the relief such a book would be in an emergency and -how valuable it would become after a while because it has references -only to tried receipts? - - Devotedly yours, - - _Jane Prince_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER II ⬩ THE BUDGET - - - YORK HARBOR, _July 30_. - -_Dear Penelope_: - -Your letter came this morning and you needn’t apologize at all for -writing me again so soon, for I am always delighted to hear from you. It -is very evident that you have an attack of the blues, so I am writing -you at once—now that I have a little spare time—to see if I can’t help -you out of them as quickly as possible. Being terribly busy this week -you must forgive me if I plunge at once into the subject and end when I -have said my say, without any bits of gossip to enliven the letter. I -will tell the girls to write you all the latest news. - -It isn’t at all surprising that you feel as though economy were drudgery -when you are simply trying to live on just as little as you can with no -other object in view. What Dr. Richard Cabot says in his book that you -and I read together is so true, “_Work_ is doing what you don’t now -enjoy for the sake of a future which you clearly see and desire. -_Drudgery_ is doing under strain what you don’t now enjoy and for no end -that you can appreciate.” - -Now that you tell me you have started the plan of laying aside a certain -sum for marketing and find it works well, and that it is interesting to -see how far you can make a particular sum of money go in this -department, I am encouraged to do some more suggesting along the same -lines. I would advise you to take a quiet time, when your husband is not -tired, and together think carefully over what all your other regular -expenses are, making a list of them something like this: rent; service; -lights; fuel; ice; milk; cab and car-fare; doctor’s bills and medicine; -postage; incidentals; presents; travel; charity; marketing; groceries; -your dress; your husband’s clothes; amusements. _Some of these items_, -such as doctor’s bills and medicine, belong to the unexpected and you -cannot make an allowance for them. _Others_, such as light, fuel, milk, -etc., after some experience, you can make an approximate allowance for. -_But there are some_, such as rent, service, charity, dress, etc., that -you have under your control and for which you can make a definite -allowance. Now, let us see if we can’t turn drudgery into pleasant work. -You have already put aside a definite sum for marketing; decide also -upon a definite sum, that seems reasonable and liberal to you both, for -some of the _other accounts that are under your control_, and think what -fun it would be at the end of the month to surprise your husband with -savings from any of these accounts and occasionally to use this money -for a little spree which you both can enjoy, or for some much-needed -article for one of you or for the house, or else to put into a nest-egg -for the future. You will find that you can do this if you “cut your -garment according to your cloth.” - -Of course, in order to know just what you have saved on any one item of -your account, you would have to keep a careful record of everything that -you spend, and this you can do only by carrying a list with you when -shopping and writing down at the time the cost of everything you buy. At -the end of each month separate these expenditures, whether paid for by -cash or check, into their separate items, adding all of one kind -together under one head, thus: - - Jany. Rent $45.00 - Dress - Gas - Fuel - Etc., etc. - -Keep this statement somewhere, either in the back of your account book -or in a blank book kept for the purpose, so that you can always tell at -a glance how much you have spent any month on any one item. This -memorandum is very important and should be a great help to you, for, -after several months of careful watching you will begin to know about -how much you really need for your different regular expenses. Sometimes, -after looking over the figures, you are led to feel that you have spent -more than you ought on some one account, sometimes on another, and then -the accounts have to be gone over to see how you have been careless. -Even now I find it of use to look back on this memorandum when money -seems to be going a little faster than it ought to. Each family has to -decide for itself what _proportion_ should be allowed for these -different expenses, but, with your income of $2200 a year, it is safe to -allow fifty cents a day per person for all food. The house rent, so -business men say, should not be more than a quarter of one’s income, if -possible a little less than that. - -Neither of you will feel happy, I know, unless you lay aside something -for your church interests and also to help, if only a very little, some -of the public-spirited efforts for good. You can’t improve on the -Biblical proportion of a tenth of one’s income for this, or more if you -are prosperous. Some people could get almost that from the waste in -their households. You can see how you could enjoy giving when you knew -just what you had to give and were not worried with indecision. - -Above all things, be very frank with each other in money affairs. Lack -of this frankness is sometimes responsible for a man’s getting into debt -because he can’t bear to deny his wife what she wants and she doesn’t -know that he is living beyond his means to get it for her. I hope you -won’t think me cruel when I advise you to keep away from shops unless -you have something to buy; in fact, waiting until you have quite a list, -for if one doesn’t see the fascinating things one doesn’t feel the need -of them. Bargains are a snare and a delusion, and, depend upon it, one -spends less money by getting something at its regular price when one -actually needs it than in getting something very cheap to lay by for a -possible need which may never come. - -I can understand your feeling perfectly well that economy seems so mean, -but all danger of its being mean is removed if you waste nothing on -yourselves or your household in order to be able to do something better -or wiser or more generous with your money. We have nothing but -admiration of the French thrift (we don’t call it economy), and why -should not we Americans follow their example? - -You may have an income of your own some day, and I shall venture to -advise you about that even if that beloved husband of yours is looking -over your shoulder! I hope you won’t fall into the mistake, on account -of the love and confidence you have in him, of putting it into the -common purse for regular expenses. It doesn’t reflect at all on that -confidence to keep your own accounts separate from his. The most devoted -of husbands and wives often differ in their ideas of what they want to -spend money for, and many a good and kind husband would soon begin to -feel a right over his wife’s money if it went into the common purse, so -long as he was spending it conscientiously in the way he thought would -bring her the most comfort. In the first glamour you can imagine how a -wife would enjoy the sacrifice of giving freely all her possessions into -her husband’s care to control as he thought best, but later she might -awaken to such a sense of the responsibility that the possession of -money entails that she would feel that she ought to decide for herself -how it should be spent. To make the change then would be likely to cause -hurt feelings or even a misunderstanding. For a woman to keep her -accounts separate need never interfere with her helping out at any time -when she saw the need of it, and that would be a genuine pleasure. - -If there is anything else you want to talk over with me, now is the very -best time to write, for _all_ my children are going off on visits and -the house will seem so lonely that I shall be more glad than usual to -devote some of my time to you. - -Very affectionately, with apologies to Tom for the last part of my -letter, - - Your friend, - - _Jane Prince_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III ⬩ SERVANTS - - - YORK HARBOR, _August 10_. - -_Dear Penelope_: - -It has been so long since your last letter that I feared you were ill -and was at my desk starting to write you when yours came and explained -the whole situation. What a picture of misery, and to think that that -nice-looking Mary turned out so unsatisfactory and that you have had -such a succession since her departure! So you feel degraded and as -though there was something the matter with you personally, do you? Well, -there is nothing the matter with you, and you are the same dear girl -that you have always been, and with your willingness to give the servant -question all the thought that it needs, these very experiences will help -you to cope with it more wisely. It made me laugh to hear how disgusted -your husband was because your present housemaid was such a fright! Don’t -let that worry you; just provide her with neat white aprons and a cap -and he won’t know her. Tell him I wish he had seen the little apparition -that came to me, when we were first married (we were living in the South -at the time), in answer to my advertisement for a housemaid. At least -forty-eight tiny little braids, each about four inches long, stood -straight out from her little black head and she was clad in bright red -plaid from top to toe, her face beaming all over with good nature. She -looked clean, as you say your new maid does, and the transformation was -complete when later, with hair smoothed out, and in a neat calico dress -and white apron, she stood before me for inspection. Since then, you can -imagine I have had all sorts and kinds and so many experiences that I -have gradually grown to look at domestic service in a broader way. - -You have had enough discomfort already to make you feel that it is a -serious problem and I am so glad that what you have gone through has -only determined you to come out victorious in the end and not to follow -the example of so many women who go into apartments to get rid of -household cares. Undoubtedly they do reduce the number of their servants -and their worries in this way, but the family also loses much of the -home feeling. What would we think of our husbands if, when the men in -their employ gave them trouble, they said to us that they could not -manage their employees and would have to get rid of most of them which -would necessitate their reducing their business and our living in less -comfort in consequence? Wouldn’t we in our hearts think they were -failures in their vocations? And yet we women are just as much failures -in our vocation when we give up the privacy and comforts of home to go -into an apartment because we cannot manage our servants. - -Every woman who tries to bring about a better understanding between -herself and her servants helps every other woman to make home life more -comfortable, so it really isn’t a little thing to do. On the contrary, -if enough women try, they may bring about great results. Nothing is so -absolutely destructive to an understanding between mistress and maid as -the habit, so common and so catching, of looking at servants as a class -by themselves, unlike other human beings and antagonistic to their -mistresses. What we should do is to try to get into a sympathetic mood -by remembering that human nature is the same the world over and in all -classes, the great difference being in education, early surroundings, -and training. If we only keep this in mind, while it really seems almost -impossible to understand the ignorance of many servants and to see -things from their point of view, yet we may at least realize that it -would be a disgrace if our ideals of conduct were not higher than -theirs. - -When I tell you that you will need nearly every known virtue to keep -house well, you will expect to come out of the experience a piece of -absolute perfection! Certainly PATIENCE is one of the foremost needed. -It is so easy and natural for us to scold a servant when she has -neglected her duty or done something stupid, instead of patiently -following her up every time she neglects anything and with a pleasant -but decided manner seeing that she does it. And yet I know, from -experience, that the scolding produces no result except to make her -angry, while the other method will have one of two results; she will -either get into the habit of doing her work well to save herself the -mortification or irritation of being corrected or else she will show you -that she isn’t worth training and that you might as well let her go. -One’s patience, however, may cease to be a virtue in the case of a -sullen servant. I would not keep such a one, no matter how good her work -was, if after having spoken to her about it she did not change, for -nothing will wear you out sooner, and to no purpose, than having to -contend with that kind of a disposition. Tell her the reason that you -part with her and perhaps she will do better in her next place, in which -case you will have helped her and her future mistress. - -UNSELFISHNESS—there’s plenty of opportunity for a mistress to show if -she is sincere in her desire to be fair. Just one instance: It isn’t -very pleasant, to say the least, if, after one has trained a servant to -be skillful and she has stayed for several years so that one has grown -dependent on her, she leaves for higher wages. Yet in every other -calling people are praised for what is called their ambition to rise, -and if we can’t pay high wages, how can we expect to keep the most -skillful servants? And why should we make them feel as though they were -not behaving well when they leave for more money? - -How much WISDOM and THOUGHTFULNESS, too, we need to keep all the -different dispositions in the house in harmony, to know just the right -moment to correct and the time when extra work or a rainy wash-day or a -headache make it wisest to delay correction. - -And then MORAL COURAGE—it is wonderful how that often will win the day. -It is fatal to be afraid of servants. If you have to reprove one of them -that you like and do not wish to lose, it is a good thing to fortify -yourself with the thought that it would be better to lose her than to -give in to any unreasonableness, for that would certainly put you in her -power. You will be surprised how the calm firmness that this thought -will give you will generally win the day, if it is backed by the fact -that the maid knows she is in a comfortable home and has a considerate -mistress. - -But I know you want me to talk about your particular troubles, when -there _was_ a comfortable home and a considerate mistress. I can readily -believe how interested you were in making Mary happy and that you wanted -her to feel that your house was her home, and I can just picture how -sweet and nice your kitchen and her bedroom looked with everything so -neat and new. It was disappointing, in return for all your -thoughtfulness of her comfort, to have her show that all she apparently -wanted was to get away from her work as quickly and as often as -possible. And then after her departure to have such a series of -incompetents in quick succession, each with some new demand, was -perfectly disheartening. I do feel so sorry for you, for I know just how -discouraged you must have been. Of course I have no way of divining what -the cause of dissatisfaction was, but we always have to bear in mind -that there is so much of the antagonistic spirit between mistress and -maid that those of us who do not have it, but who want to be kind, have -to suffer for those who are unjust. At any time a maid may come to us -direct from a home where she has had a hard mistress, who gave her her -outings grudgingly, didn’t like her to have her friends come to see her, -and perhaps, while giving her an almost luxurious room, rarely spoke a -kind word to her and took it for granted she would be faithless and -perhaps even dishonest. - -Or, she may have come from some good-natured but thoughtless mistress -where her room was miserably uncomfortable and where possibly she had to -share her bed, washstand, and bureau with a girl whom she had never seen -before or who wasn’t clean. From such places she would come to you -naturally in an antagonistic mood, and, suspecting that she would not be -looked out for, make demands for even more than she really wanted. She -would make the mistake that I have just advised you to avoid, of -classing all mistresses together as unkind or thoughtless. Of course it -is very unintelligent to do this, for we might as well class all lawyers -or all bankers together and expect no good from any of them because some -have such low standards. And yet we can hardly blame her when we -ourselves have heard so many mistresses talk of servants as though they -were all worthless. You seem to think you might have come to some -agreement with Mary if you hadn’t been so indignant at what seemed -ingratitude after all you had done for her. Possibly that is true, but -it is past now and it is useless to cry over spilt milk. What you can do -is to start out differently with your new maid in the light of your past -experience. - -I think you will find yourself much happier if you don’t look for -gratitude, for it isn’t to be found very much in any class of life. -Above all things, don’t let what you have gone through make you -distrustful, for it is the part of wisdom as well as of kindness to let -the new maid feel that you expect well of her. If she has good stuff in -her, that is the way to bring it out. We ourselves show our best side to -those who believe in us. - -You seem to have a vague feeling that Mary’s leaving you had something -to do with the outings she wanted. That may have been so, for very few -of us can enter into servants’ lives enough to realize the vital -importance of their outings to them. I can understand your being a -little distrustful of her when she wanted to go to a dance, for I used -to feel that way myself, but I don’t feel so any longer. Through -interest in social work I have learned to appreciate how important -recreation is to all classes and how natural is the taste for dancing -and the theater. Of course, if a maid wanted to go often, that couldn’t -be allowed, for it wouldn’t be compatible with good work. - -While most of us are interested in helping to give recreation to the -less fortunate classes, we have hardly awakened to the fact that there -is one class, that of our servants, who are ridiculed if they want it. -It is really quite pathetic to think how little appreciation we have of -their need of amusement, and how many jokes are made at the expense of -those who want occasionally to go to a dance or to the theater. You and -I know some people who don’t even want to let them have their friends -come to call. If we desire good work from servants we shall have to be -more human and show them that we take an interest in their having a good -time. - -Perhaps we have had such easy lives ourselves that we have to go back to -our childhood to remember the delicious sense of freedom from restraint -when school was out, in order to form some idea of the pleasure a maid -feels on her “afternoon” when she leaves all duties behind her and gets -beyond the sound of the bell. As a well-trained maid, she always has to -go about the house noiselessly, never raising her voice in speaking -unless spoken to. Perhaps she doesn’t like the other maids and longs for -some congenial friend and to talk and laugh unrestrainedly. Is it -surprising that she forgets that she doesn’t have to pay her board and -lodging as the girls do who are otherwise employed than in domestic -service, and that she only thinks of their greater freedom? She -naturally longs for that freedom and for some time that she can surely -call her own. - -If any trouble crops up with this new maid, don’t (because you are so -sorry that you let the other one go) offer her higher wages or urge her -to stay. It will give you backbone to remember that she will be useless -if she stays while dissatisfied and also that offering her higher wages -when you are paying enough is only a bribe and simply makes her feel -more essential to you than she really is. It wouldn’t remove the cause -of her dissatisfaction but only delay its coming to the surface again. -Sometimes by a quiet talk you can find out what the trouble is and if -the complaint is reasonable you can remove the cause. - -A case in point is an experience that I myself once had when there was -dissatisfaction among some servants whom I really liked. It was after I -had, with a great deal of trouble and study, tried to arrange all their -afternoons and evenings out and their Sundays to be, as I thought, -convenient for myself and comfortable for them. I was indignant at first -at what seemed ingratitude and felt ready to dismiss them all. But, on -sober thought, the idea occurred to me of trying to get at the bottom of -the trouble by calling them all together and letting each one in turn -tell me what was her cause of discontent. At the same time I told them -all that, while I might not be able to do what they wanted, still, as my -only thought in arranging their outings was to give them rest and have -them enjoy themselves, I was ready to consider making some changes so -long as they would not interfere with the proper and regular running of -the household. It seemed quite a new idea to them that their mistress -was really interested in their pleasure. They were nice women and with -the prospect of a sympathetic hearing, their antagonism seemed to pass -away. - -To my surprise I found that it was not more outings that they wanted (in -fact they proposed fewer), but to be away from the house longer at a -time. I promised them nothing at the moment because I feared that I -should say something unwise, but impressed it upon them that they would -have to work together and help one another if they wanted these changes. -This conversation resulted in my arranging a programme that was -satisfactory to them and perfectly convenient to me, and one that I have -not had to change for years. - -It may help you very much to find out what I learned from this -conversation, so here it is. _The first point was that servants need -their regular outings to be longer than they usually are_, because it -takes them so much longer than it does us to get dressed and to reach -the more remote parts of the town where they usually go. This seemed to -me reasonable as I thought over the work of the different servants. -Instead of just putting on her hat and coat as we do, a maid has to -change everything to make herself neat and fresh to go to church or -shopping or to visit her friends. If she has the ordinary two hours’ -leave, in most cases she would have to turn around to come back almost -as soon as she reaches her destination. If she goes to church we know -the service will not be out till after twelve-thirty or even later; so -that in order to return in time to set the table by one o’clock, she -must leave the church instantly without a moment’s chat with her -friends. The waitress cannot get her breakfast things finished before -ten o’clock in many households and with the common habit of irregular -Sunday breakfasts generally it will be much later. With the chambermaid -the situation is probably worse if there are a number of rooms to make -up, and it seems almost impossible for the cook to get to morning church -unless some special arrangement is made for her. - -_The second point was that servants would like to be able to count on an -absolutely certain, specified time to leave the house and to return_, -both on Sundays and week-days. This they cannot do if some of the family -stay in bed very late, if there is an invalid in the house, or if there -are extra people at the Sunday lunch, unless the mistress makes a very -definite plan for the servants to relieve one another, so that their -free time of going out or to church will not be interfered with and the -regular work will still go on. - -_The third and last point that I can remember is that most servants -really do not care to go out so frequently_, but that, on the contrary, -they would sometimes rather stay at home on their day out if they could -be sure of the time to themselves and that they would not be called on -for work. - -_These three points are always carefully conceded to them in hotels_, -and consequently hotel service is much desired by maids, as housekeepers -in small towns find to their great inconvenience. - -This experience of mine may let light into your situation and give you a -basis for a good programme. In working it out it is necessary to be -careful not to make things comfortable for the servants at the expense -of the family. As the two points of making the outing longer and -starting at regular hours can only be accomplished by one servant taking -the duty of the other in her absence, it is important to impress on -their minds at the outset that these duties must be performed so well -that the household will not be inconvenienced. Since it is a fair -exchange, maids are usually contented to do this, and it is the duty of -the mistress to train them and to see that each servant carries out the -idea, doing her fair share of the work. Where there is more than one -servant, these outings can easily be arranged, even with a family of -irregular habits, so that they all will be able to get off promptly and -stay out long enough, without any inconvenience to the household. In the -case where there is only one maid, who does the cooking and all the work -of the house, the household is, of necessity, run more informally, and a -chafing-dish meal can take the place of one of the Sunday meals in order -to let her off. But if the mistress feels that she must have her meals -go on just as regularly on Sunday as any other day, she should hire some -one to come in for the time the servant is out. You can readily see that -she should not expect one servant to keep up the house unaided in just -the way that two or three servants do it. - -I have heard nice women say, “I have only one servant, so of course I -can’t let her go out.” This is really cruel, though not intentionally -so, because, if the maid has all the work to do, she needs a complete -and regular rest all the more. The mistress should look upon the money -paid to some one for taking her place as one of the regular necessary -household expenses. - -Whether there is one servant or many, each one is entitled to some -regular time to herself and if housekeepers were more careful about this -there would be less discontent among servants, I am sure. As I said -before, we need to be a great deal more human in our relationship with -them. How reasonable, for example, these three points seem when we take -the pains to see the servants’ point of view, and how easy it would be -to misjudge the situation otherwise. What most of them really want is to -have some time that they can actually call their own. You would be -surprised to know the calm that settled down upon my family and how much -more home life there appeared to be in the kitchen after I had arranged -a new programme of work and given them these three points that they -wanted. Just try it and you will see for yourself, and I am sure too, -that you will be glad to practice every virtue that good house -management requires if, in that way, you can bring about peace instead -of that uncomfortable atmosphere which constant dissatisfaction among -the servants causes. If a home is unhappy downstairs you can always feel -it upstairs, and, in fact, sometimes at the front door. - -I believe I will enclose the plan for the outings of three servants that -has worked so well in my case. A simpler plan can be arranged for two -servants because they alternate. I have already said what I think is our -duty in case of one. - -What a long letter I have written you! I send it on the “wings” of the -first mail hoping that it will reach you in time really to help you in -your present situation. - - Affectionately yours, - - _Jane Prince_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER IV ⬩ MAID OF - ALL WORK ❧ ❧ - - - YORK HARBOR, _August 18_. - -_Dear Penelope:_ - -Your ears must have burned this morning, for I have been thinking so -hard of you. It is an entrancing day after a storm, and the sound of the -slow, dreamy washing of the waves on the shore, as I sit here knitting -on the piazza, seem to carry me far away from everything about me to -your dear self. The girls came home yesterday from visiting Mrs. Gardner -with all the latest news of you, how sweet and pretty your surroundings -are, and, best of all, Tom’s devotion to you and your happiness. -“Spooney,” they called you both, but never mind, what do they know about -it? You and I understand,—that is enough, isn’t it? - -Your little message to me showed that there was one annoyance, however, -weighing on you in the midst of all this bliss, the undercurrent of -worry from signs of discontent in the kitchen. When everything is so -bright and pleasant around you, and you are _so_ happy, why can’t the -maid feel so too? I am afraid it will be many a long day before I can go -down to see you, but I am so glad I have my hands and eyes and they -shall be devoted to you, dear child, this morning. The more I think -about the apparent discontent of your present maid, the more do I -believe that it is because you do not realize that a maid of all work -cannot do all that you expect her to do and also give the finishing -touches that give charm to the home. I know how you love everything to -be the pink of perfection, and it isn’t necessary for you to lower your -standards of refinement of living,—only to remember to be content to -live more simply or informally and that all the pretty little touches -must come from you. I have dined a number of times with a young couple -where the wife, accustomed to servants before her marriage, did most of -the housework, including the cooking, and only had a woman come in for -the rough work, sweeping, etc., and to wash the dishes when she had -guests. The table always looked refined and sweet and the little -apartment made you feel at once the interested touch of the family. - -So don’t be discouraged because, after your servant dusts, everything -looks crooked and the rooms have a neglected appearance. It is simply -because you are asking too much of your maid, who has all she can do in -taking care of the practical side of the housework. When I spoke a -little while ago of living more simply, visions came before me of your -wedding day and the room, that looked like a miniature Tiffany’s, spread -out with your wedding presents,—silver, cut glass, and ornaments,—and -then I thought of your little maid and how impossible it would be for -her to keep the silver looking bright as it should, with everything else -she has to do, and how discouraged she would be at the very thought of -it. So my advice to you is to put all your silver away that you do not -need until you have enough servants to keep it bright without -overworking them. Your dining-room will look much prettier with a few -bright pieces than overladen with silver that is dull and gives the -impression of careless housekeeping. - -You must remember that each of the servants you have been accustomed to -had her own especial part of the housework to do and plenty of time to -do it in. It isn’t so with the maid of all work. She has so much to do -that you really have to choose what of the lighter work you will find -the pleasantest to perform and do something yourself in order to make -her burden easier and have your rooms look homelike and attractive. -Suppose you decide to make up your own beds, do the dusting, and attend -to the lamps. That is all good exercise and you can wear a pair of -gloves to keep your hands nice while you are working. You can manage in -this way. If the maid gets up at six-thirty, dresses, throws her -mattress over the foot of her bed, and opens her windows to air her -room, she can be ready to start the kitchen fire, if there is a coal -range, and put on the cereal (which has been cooked the night before and -is much better for long cooking) by seven o’clock. She can then go into -the parlor, draw up the shades there and in the dining-room, rebuild the -fire if it has been used, and go over the floor with a dustless mop. -After that she can set the dining-table and cook the breakfast. (You -will have to put your beds to air yourself before you leave your room.) -When she has put the last of your breakfast on the table, you can wait -on yourselves, leaving her to get her own breakfast. (Just here I must -speak to you of the loneliness of the maid of all work having all her -meals by herself, because, when you think of this, and know that many of -them never even sit down to their table, I know you will try to -encourage yours to take proper and regular meals and will see that the -kitchen is made a homelike place for her.) - -To return to the order of her work. When you have finished your -breakfast she can clear the dining-table, wash your breakfast things, -and straighten the kitchen. After that she should let you know that she -is ready to take your orders for the meals. Having finished your -breakfast and seen Tom off for his business, you might commence your -share of the housework by going to your room, making up the beds, -dusting it and all the other rooms and putting them all in order. When -the maid lets you know that she is ready to receive your orders for the -day, you should stop your work temporarily, if you haven’t finished it, -in order not to delay hers, which is more important. Then you should go -with her to the refrigerator and wire chest to see the left-overs and -plan the meals for the day, utilizing the left-overs and writing on a -small pad, kept for the purpose, the bill of fare for lunch, dinner, and -breakfast, pinning this up in the kitchen, to leave no excuse for -forgetting. All the orders having been disposed of, the menus of the day -before can be gone over, praising the successes and pointing out the -mistakes. This being finished, the maid can clean the bathroom and do up -her own room and be ready for the work of the day which can be arranged -in some such way as this: - - - _Monday_ Washing. - - _Tuesday_ Ironing. - - _Wednesday_ Bedrooms, one week; - dining-room and - living-room, next - week. - - _Thursday_ Hall and bathroom, - one week; brasses, - next week. - - _Friday_ Silver. Afternoon - out every week. - - _Saturday_ Kitchen, - refrigerator, etc. - - -In the case of the maid of all work, _washing the windows_ has to be -done by outside labor, and the time to do it depends a good deal on wind -and weather. - -One has to be very considerate on washing-day, planning ahead so as to -have a cold lunch if possible on that day and not to invite any one to -dinner. The “afternoon out” is another time when the maid must be -thought of, and nothing should be allowed to interfere with her having -this regular time to herself undisturbed. You and Tom will have, both of -you, to understand the necessity of this consideration so that he will -realize that he mustn’t bring friends home at these times unless it is -for such an informal frolic that your guests understand it too, and -enjoy what you can have on the chafing-dish. Don’t leave disorder for -her to clear up which would give her as much trouble as getting the -dinner. Lack of thought in ways like this often causes a servant to -leave, though she won’t give you the true reason. - -Sunday is another time when she has to be thought of, to be sure to let -her have her time off so that she can get to church or to see her -friends. You will have to arrange all this with reference to the customs -of the place in which you are living or your distance from the center of -things. It is much better to accept the fact that this must be arranged -satisfactorily to you both than to make some arbitrary rule of your own -which will always cause trouble. If you compare notes with your friends -you will find plenty who don’t do this, but you will find plenty, too, -who have ceaseless trouble with servants. - -Every day except washing and ironing day the maid can and should by -three-thirty o’clock be neatly dressed in black with a white apron, to -go to the door. Plain black sateen waists are cheap and wash perfectly -well, so that she can wear one while cooking, but I would advise you to -provide her also with turn-over collars that are rather low at the neck, -because if she wears the stand-up kind she will be pretty sure to take -it off so as to be comfortable when cooking and perhaps mortify you by -appearing at the door sometime collarless. - -You will find that you can invite as many as four to dinner informally, -making six in all, with a maid of all work if you have some one in to -help her wash the dishes. I don’t mean for you to engage an expert for -this, for they are expensive, but some friend of your maid who enjoys -the sociability of coming with the prospect of a good dinner and a -little extra money thrown in. Of course you have to arrange to have -things that don’t take much time or can be prepared the day before and -that your maid cooks especially well, never trying a new dish at such a -time. - -It can be a nice little dinner, nevertheless. Suppose you begin with -_grapefruit_, which you can arrange yourself, cutting out the center and -putting sugar in and setting it in the ice-box early in the day so that -the juices will be drawn out and it will be cold and delicious by dinner -time. Next, _a clear soup_, which can be prepared the day before or can -be a canned consommé of the best make, flavored with a little lemon, and -with a thin slice of lemon in each plate. (Even if your maid can make a -delicious cream soup I wouldn’t advise attempting it, since it takes too -much time on the day of the dinner.) Third, _a roast and two or three -vegetables_. For the fourth course _a salad_ which you can prepare -yourself, making the dressing. Next the fifth course, _ice-cream and -cake_, or some other bought dessert; and, finally, _coffee_. - -All these suggestions that I have written you have actually been tried -and found practical and cause the least amount of friction, so I send -them to you to modify to suit your own case. That is where your genius -will come in—the modifications that oil the machinery of your house to -suit your circumstances and your maid’s particular characteristics. - -I have only a minute before the mail goes to add another suggestion to -this long letter of advice, and that is that it might help you to look -into the question of the innumerable domestic labor-saving machines, -such as fireless cookers, bread-mixers, vacuum cleaners, -washing-machines, electric utensils of all sorts and kinds, and see if -there are any that could be used to advantage in your household. With -every wish that contentment may soon reign in your kitchen, - - Devotedly yours, - - _Jane Prince_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER V ⬩ WEEKLY - CLEANING ❧ ❧ - - - YORK HARBOR, _August 27_. - -_Dear Penelope_: - -Your sense of the ludicrous is going to be of the greatest help over -rough places, for often little troubles seem to vanish if we can only -laugh over them. I was very much amused with your clever devices to -cover up from your maid the fact that you could not remember in what -order her work ought to be done. It is surprising, isn’t it, how we can -go on living for years in our mothers’ well-ordered households without -ever thinking what the method is that makes everything go so like -clockwork? - -But it is the experience of most of us, and this letter shall go off at -once to you hoping to reach you before the next sweeping day, for, as I -understand it, that is the vital question for the moment. Without any -preamble I shall plunge right into my subject. With two or three maids, -of course, every room should have its regular weekly cleaning, but where -there is but one she can only manage to sweep each room once in two -weeks, you arranging the order of her work as I suggested to you in my -last letter. - -I will give you two methods of cleaning, one with a broom, and the other -with a vacuum cleaner, but I strongly recommend the cleaner as it raises -almost no dust and makes the cleaning much easier. You can buy a kind -now in the department stores that is no heavier than an ordinary carpet -sweeper, is used the same way by hand, does not require electricity in -the house, and is comparatively inexpensive, ranging from six dollars -up. - -_The following is the order for the thorough weekly cleaning with a -broom:_ - -Before beginning run the shades up to the top and open the windows at -the top keeping them shut at the bottom. The rising hot air will then -carry the dust out of the window, while, if the window be open at the -bottom, the cold air, which falls, will blow the dust in. - -Take small rugs out to be shaken. - -Brush window sills and lower part of blinds. - -Dust each small piece of furniture and take it out of the room. - -Shake out of the window all table covers and take them out of the room -while the cleaning is going on. - -If it is a bedroom, cover bed with dusting sheet. - -Brush hard all upholstered furniture with a whisk broom and cover with -dusting sheets. - -Dust all ornaments laying them carefully under dusting sheet on sofa or -bed. - -All little things being out of the room and large pieces of furniture -covered, sweep carpet or rug, and then, with dustless mop, go over the -floor, being careful to clean under heavy pieces of furniture that -cannot be moved, rubbing the floor well, but not using oil, as it soils -light dresses, or water, as it takes the polish off. Once a month or -oftener wax the floor and polish it with a soft cloth on your broom or a -polishing brush that comes for the purpose. - -_Clean mirrors_ by washing with water that has a little ammonia in it. -Wipe and polish with a lintless cloth or newspaper. Newspaper is always -on hand and makes a fine polish. - -_Wash the gas globes_ if they are dirty (probably about once a month), -being careful not to screw them on tight when they are put back, as that -makes the globes crack when they get hot. - -_Take away_ all soiled bureau and sideboard covers. Lay the fire if it -has been used, and wash up the hearth. - -_Laying a coal fire in the grate_: Put the blower on to prevent as much -as possible the ashes flying about. Shake the ashes down through the -bars of the grate with a poker. Remove them from the pan with the shovel -and put them in the coal scuttle. Take the ash-pan out and brush under -it. Take the blower off and twist newspapers in loose rolls and put them -in the bottom of the grate. Lay kindlings crosswise on top of the paper -with spaces for draughts in between. Put coal on top of the kindlings. -When the fire is wanted, put the blower on, and light the fire from -below. When the coal is well caught, take the blower off. - -_Laying an open wood fire_: Place a large log close against the back of -the chimney, another in front, leaving a space between. In this space -between the two lay lightly pieces of newspaper twisted loosely; on top -of this paper place kindlings crosswise resting on both logs, and far -enough apart to let the air through; then one or two other sticks on top -of the kindlings bark side down. Do not remove the ashes from a wood -fire, as it burns better on a bed of hot ashes. - -If soot should ever fall from the chimney on to the rug, sprinkle the -place thickly with corn meal and brush it up. This removes at once what -otherwise would be a bad stain. - -After the fire has been laid, _empty all_ scraps from scrap baskets into -a receptacle and take this and also the hod of ashes, if the fire was of -coal, downstairs. - -_Close_ windows, pull shades down half-way, arrange curtains, take -covers off furniture, bring chairs back. Put clean bureau and sideboard -covers on, and put the ornaments back in their places. Fold up dusting -sheets and put them away. - -If brasses are brightened once a week, they remain bright with less -effort, but if you have a good many it is best to reserve one morning -for this, as it is dirty work. A pair of large old gloves should be -provided to keep the hands clean when doing it. Just as with silver, -with only one maid it is better not to have too many brasses out, unless -you can hire some one to clean them. - -When I tell you the order of cleaning a room by a hand-power vacuum -cleaner that is made only to sweep the carpets and rugs, does not go by -electricity, and has no attachments, you will see that it saves you the -most troublesome and heaviest part of the work of sweeping day and that -two or three rooms can be cleaned in the time it would take to clean one -with a broom. By the following order of work you get the best results -and do not have to go a second time over any of your dusting. No dusting -sheets have to be used, rugs do not have to be taken up nor furniture -and ornaments removed. Of course, before beginning to clean you open -windows and arrange shades in the same way that I described when -preparing to sweep a room with a broom. - -_The weekly cleaning of a room with a hand-power vacuum cleaner_: - -Brush window sills. - -Brush hard all upholstered furniture with a whisk broom. - -Shake out of the window all table covers and take them out of the room -while cleaning is going on. - -Go over carpet or rugs with the vacuum cleaner and then the bare floor -with a dustless mop. (Sweeping with a vacuum cleaner is supposed not to -make any dust, but as it isn’t perfection there is a fine dust that -rises from it; so all the dusting should come after the sweeping.) - -Dust every piece of furniture, shaking duster out of window. - -Dust all ornaments and shelves. - -Clean mirrors and do all the work coming after this in the same order as -described in cleaning a room with a broom. - -With the more expensive electric power vacuum cleaners the order of work -is the same, but there are all sorts of attachments to clean floors, -upholstered furniture, curtains, etc., that any of their agents would -explain to you. - -I am speaking from experience when advising a vacuum cleaner, because, -after using an electric one in town, I bought for use here, where I -haven’t electricity in the house, the hand-power kind, as I couldn’t -stand the dust made by an ordinary broom. If you decide to get one, do -let me know how you like it. - - Your practical but loving friend, - - _Jane Prince_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VI ⬩ FAMILY MEALS - - - YORK HARBOR, _August 28_. - -_Dear Penelope_: - -After I sent off my letter to you, I turned over your last page and -found a scrawl that I didn’t notice at first,—a polite little request -for the details of serving one’s every day meals. Why, of course, I will -give it to you, and shall take it for granted that your maid’s mind is a -perfect blank on the subject. So much the better, for now you can put -into it just what you want her to have there. - -I would begin by impressing on her how important it is to have the -tablecloth smooth with the creases running straight down the middle and -everything set evenly on the table. Show her yourself how neat it looks -when done in this way and how badly when the things are crooked. If she -hasn’t a straight eye, the only way to do is to give her a foot-rule and -have her measure distances at first until her eye is trained. Don’t -attempt anything elaborate and be content to use your simple china which -can be easily replaced, so that when, in her awkwardness, she breaks it, -your heart won’t be broken too. Perhaps you can find some old -china-cabinet with glass doors in which you can keep those beautiful -plates that were among your wedding presents, and be able to have them -to look at without their being any care. If the maid hasn’t too much to -attend to, she will be able to do what she does do, well, and if you -have your meals served nicely every day, then, when you have guests, she -will not be confused by some new order of things, but will be perfectly -natural and serve them well as a matter of course. Your own meals, too, -will go more quickly and easily and be more appetizing if always served -carefully and regularly. - -Let us take a perfectly simple family dinner: First course, soup; second -course, roast and (two) or (three) vegetables; third course, salad or -dessert; fourth course, coffee; and begin to train her in this way: - - -See that the canton flannel undercloth is perfectly smooth on the table. - -Over this place the tablecloth with the crease going exactly down the -middle. - -Make sure that whatever glass, silver, china, knives, etc., is to be -used on the table is bright. - -Put a dinner plate for each person at even distances apart from one -another. - -To the right of each plate place as many knives as you need with their -sharp edges turned toward the plate, then next to them the soup spoon -with the hollow part of the bowl of the spoon turned up. - -Put the napkin at the right of the soup spoon, folded over neatly once, -as it would take up too much room square, and lay on it exactly in the -middle a piece of bread cut about three inches long by one and a half -thick and two inches wide, or else a roll. - -Place a tumbler at the point of the knives. - -At the left of each plate lay as many forks as are needed for the meal, -with their prongs turned upward and placed in the order in which they -are to be used, the fork for the first course being on the outside and -farthest from the plate. - -Exactly in the center of the table put your plant. - -Place a salt cellar and a pepper pot in each corner of an imaginary -square of which the plant is the center. - -Arrange the side-table—or sideboard, if you have no side-table—with -everything extra on it that will be needed during the meal, so that you -will never have to open a drawer while you are serving it. - -Put on this table, in nice order, so that it will look attractive, the -dessert plates, on each of which is a finger bowl with a doily under it; -also any cold plates such as salad plates, if they are to be used, and -any extra forks, spoons, sauce ladles, etc., that will be required. - -Fill the finger bowls a third full of water and place a fork and a spoon -on the doily, one on one side, the other on the other, of the finger -bowl. - -Have also on the side-table a plate of bread, the pieces all cut the -same size as those already on the dining-table. - -Set a pitcher of iced water in a convenient place in pantry or -dining-room. - -Arrange a tray with the after-dinner coffee-cups on it and the bowl of -lump sugar and sugar tongs in the center. Put an after-dinner coffee -spoon on each saucer. Have this in pantry. - -(The only spoon that is ever put with the forks and knives by the plates -on the table is the soup spoon. Teaspoons for grapefruit, for bouillon, -tea, coffee, etc., are always put on the plate or saucer on which these -foods and drinks are served.) - -When the dining- and side-tables are set and the first course ready to -come into the dining-room, fill the tumblers with iced water. - -Go into the pantry and pour each soup plate half full of soup. - -If it is the custom of the family to use a musical Japanese gong to -announce meals, strike it two or three light taps. If they don’t use -one, then go to the mistress wherever she is and say quietly, “Dinner is -served, Mrs. ——.” - -When every one is seated, take a plate of soup in each hand and place -each plate in turn in front of each person, laying it on the dinner -plate that is already there, serving the older members of the family -first, if there are children, otherwise going right around the table, -always laying it down from the right side of each person. - -When the soup course is finished and the second course is in the pantry, -bring a hot plate in your left hand and, taking up the serving plate, -with the soup plate on it, in your right, replace it with the fresh hot -one, doing this from the right side of each person; going, in this way, -all around the table till all have hot, clean plates. - -Then bring in the platter of meat, placing it in front of the carver -with the carving knife, which has been sharpened before the meal, at his -right and the fork at his left side. Put the gravy boat and ladle at his -right. - -Stand at the left of the carver with an extra hot plate in your hand -and, taking the plate with meat on it, put the empty, hot plate in its -place. This gives the carver time to cut another slice and have it ready -when you come back with the next empty plate. - -Now go right around the table putting a plate of meat before each person -and taking up the empty plate till all have been served. Put down and -take up from the right side. - -If there is jelly or any small thing to pass, put it on a small tray, -having first placed a spoon in it, and, taking the tray in one hand and -a vegetable dish in the other, pass them all around the table, stooping -a little as you first offer one, and then draw back and offer the other -on the _left_ side of each person. - -(It is a good rule to remember in serving a meal that everything that -admits of a choice must be _passed_ at the _left_ and that everything -that does not admit of a choice must be _placed_ from the _right_.) - -Next take the remaining vegetable in one hand and a plate of bread in -the other and pass them to the left of each person all around the table. - -Watch carefully to pass food again before any one has a chance to ask -for anything and see that all have water and bread throughout the -dinner. - -When every one has finished this course, remove first the meat platter, -being careful that the carvers and spoon are secure so as not to drop -off. Then remove gravy boat on a small tray. Take out vegetables, bread, -etc. Remove the used plates, one in each hand, never piling them on top -of each other. - -Bring a tray and quietly remove peppers and salts and any knives and -forks remaining on the table and take them into the pantry. - -Bring a plate or small tray and with a napkin remove the crumbs. - -From the side-table bring a dessert plate in each hand until you have -given one to each person, always going to the _right_ of the person to -set it down. - -Put the dessert in front of the mistress, the spoon to left, and sauce -boat with spoon on her right side. - -Stand by her with an empty dessert plate and pass the plates as in the -other courses. - -After the dessert is finished remove dessert and all the plates, and, -after having filled the cups with hot coffee in the pantry, pass them -around to the family, either at the table or in the parlor, whichever -your mistress desires. If the coffee is taken in the parlor, bring an -empty tray in later and take away the coffee-cups. - -Always remember that everything belonging to one course must be removed -before serving another course. - -If the last course is salad instead of dessert, then, as you take off -the used plates of the meat course, replace them with cold plates, bring -the bowl of salad on and do not remove crumbs, salts, etc., until this -course is finished. If your mistress prefers to make the salad dressing -herself, put the bowl of lettuce in front of her, and at her right hand -the oil, vinegar, and condiments she desires, and a small bowl and a -tablespoon to mix the dressing in. When she has made the dressing and -mixed it with the lettuce, quickly remove, on a tray, the oil, vinegar, -etc., and pass the salad bowl around to each person, offering with your -other hand a plate of crackers. This course being finished, remove -salad, then plates, then peppers, salts, small silver, and then crumbs -as described before. After that bring on finger-bowl plates. Then coffee -as before. - -If your mistress prefers not to serve a meat course, such as chops that -need no carving, or a dessert course, such as berries that are easily -served, you can pass them around without setting them on the table. - - -Having now explained the method of serving the family dinner the -following few suggestions will be sufficient for breakfast and lunch: - - -If your mistress does not use a tablecloth for breakfast, place the -centerpiece exactly in the middle of the table and in the center of this -the plate of fruit (or the plant if there is no fruit). Have the -under-plate doily at each place and on it put a fruit plate on which is -a finger bowl one third full of water, with a fruit knife at the right -of the bowl and a spoon at the left on the plate. To the left of this -put a small plate for bread and butter or muffins. Knives and forks are -placed the same as for dinner, just as many as you need for the meal. - -In front of your mistress place the breakfast tray for coffee-urn, -hot-water kettle, hot-milk pitcher, and sugar-bowl, but do not bring the -hot things in till the family is ready to have breakfast. - -Arrange the side-table with any extra things that will be needed. - -Keep the butter cool and bring it on at the last moment and place it on -one side of the table opposite the bread, which has been freshly cut. - -Leave the rest of the loaf of bread in the pantry on a bread-board with -the bread-knife ready to cut more slices if needed. - -See that the newspaper is ready for the master of the house where he -likes to have it. - -Look around to see if the sideboard drawers are all tightly closed so as -to look neat and trim. - -Touch the gong lightly to announce breakfast. - -Bring on hot coffee, hot milk, and the hot-water kettle. - -When all are seated, pass around the fruit, then stand at your -mistress’s left with a small tray and taking the coffee-cups as she -fills them, place them in turn at the right of each person. - -When the fruit course is finished, remove the plates, putting fresh hot -ones in their places in the same way that you do it at dinner. - -Put the main dish of the breakfast in front of your master and the -others square and opposite one another on the table. - -See that every one has water in his tumbler and then go to get your own -breakfast. - -Family lunch is served much as dinner is served unless your mistress -prefers to have it as informal as the breakfast. - -At either lunch or breakfast, when you pass hot muffins, bread, hot -cakes, or pancakes, always pass the butter on the same tray so that no -one will have the disagreeable experience of a muffin almost cold before -the butter reaches him. - - -I am afraid, Penelope, that you may think these directions that I give -you for your maid are very detailed, but my experience with the -untrained servant has taught me that you can never tell what unpleasant -surprises she may give you in her way of serving your meals, if you -haven’t forestalled her by telling her every minutest detail. You can -see that I think that with a maid of all work the breakfast and lunch -should be very informal meals, and that with breakfast you should wait -on yourselves after she has placed the main course on the table. - -There is a very nice English contrivance for the breakfast and lunch -table that I should think you would find convenient in the case of your -maid of all work when you want to dispense with her services as much as -possible. It is a small, low, revolving table to set in the middle of -one’s dining-table on which are placed muffins, butter, etc., and which -by the slightest touch is made to move around so that anything on it -comes in reach of all at the table. I have seen only handsome ones in -mahogany, but I am sure they must come in other kinds of wood if that is -not what your table is made of. - -Another piece of furniture that I should think you would find useful is -a “dinner wagon”—a tray on wheels that can be rolled from one room to -another. After the family have left the table the maid can clear it much -more quickly by using this tray to remove the things to the pantry. - -I haven’t said a word about your centerpiece, but I have a suggestion -for that too! Ferns are very pretty for the center of the dinner table, -but you will find it quite expensive to keep them always fresh, whereas -if you plant some grapefruit seeds in a pot, you will have a charming -little growing plant like a miniature orange tree with pretty glossy -leaves which will last and give a very attractive air to your table. - -I also think you will find candles for the dining-table cost too much -for every day, but can be an additional touch when you have guests. I -wouldn’t advise you to try to follow every fashion on a small income. It -will take away spontaneousness and give a strained feeling about what -you do. No matter how rich you may become in the future, there will -always be some one who has still more, and is able to live more -luxuriously, so cultivate independence of spirit if you want -contentment. People who are always straining to have what they cannot -afford, in order to keep up with those about them, can never be -satisfied, and have nothing in the end but disappointed hopes. - -Now, Penelope, dear, I haven’t stopped to take breath since I started -this letter, and I am tired, so no more until the next snag you may -encounter. With the firm conviction that all your friends will try to -vie with you in your good housekeeping, - - Very affectionately yours, - - _Jane Prince_. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VII ⬩ DUTIES OF - SERVANTS ❧ ❧ ❧ - - - YORK HARBOR, _September 30_. - -_My dear Penelope_: - -Since my last letter to you Eloise has begged me to write out the duties -of three servants,—chambermaid, waitress and cook,—for a very -inexperienced friend of hers, Hope Conroy, who is well off and expects -to begin housekeeping soon; so you see what trouble my letters to you -have brought on me! It occurred to me that you might like to have these -notes for future reference when Tom has reached that pinnacle of success -which we all predict for him, so I am enclosing a copy of them in this -letter. You don’t need them now, but why not tie all my letters on this -subject together and make a book to keep, for easy reference, in a -convenient place,—that top bureau drawer, for instance? - -You remember meeting Hope Conroy, I am sure, when you were visiting us -last year, and have probably heard that she is to be married next month. -It has made Eloise, who is practical, and who simply adores her, quite -unhappy that Hope seems to think it so amusing that she knows nothing -about housekeeping. With all Eloise’s brothers she has had a chance to -understand men pretty well, and she thinks, with me, that there would be -fewer divorces if young girls only knew how much a man cares for his -comfort. So, in view of this, I felt I must yield to Eloise’s request -despite the amount of writing it entailed at a time when I was quite -busy with other things. I think I have just barely alluded, in some of -my letters to you, to my method of recording the servants’ duties, but I -know I haven’t explained it at all so I will now give you just what I -wrote to Hope without any further comment: - - - _Extract from my letter to Hope on the duties of three servants_ - - -It was after I had been married for several years and had become weary -of recalling afresh for each new servant the details of her work in -order to train her into my ways of doing it, that I decided to write a -small blank book for each one of them, containing her daily duties, her -weekly duties, the arrangement for her Sundays and her afternoons -out—something that I could keep permanently and thus save myself much -trouble. If you dislike detail as much as I do these books will help you -too. When the servants first came I read them to each one letting each -keep her own while she was with me and taking the precaution to have a -copy of them all in my housekeeping book in case any misunderstanding -should arise. - -Realizing that much of the _general duties_ must be different in every -household, according to the number of the family and the number and -arrangement of rooms, and whether they live in an apartment house or -not, I shall only attempt to give you an idea of how these books were -written, just enough to help you make out your own books to suit the -requirements of your family. This is the reason I describe the _general -duties_ only in a _general_ way, and the _daily duties_ (where the -manner of doing the work is practically always the same) I describe in -_detail_, addressing the maids directly as I did in the books which I -made for my own servants. Although the instructions to the maids are in -some cases identical, yet, in order to make them clear, I repeat them in -each case, even though it seems unnecessary. It would be my advice to -you in making your book to arrange the daily duties of the servants so -as to insure the early starting of the household. For instance, let the -chambermaid wake you on her way downstairs at a specified hour, and, at -the same time, let the waitress come to get the silver. If you have a -safe for your silver, you could leave out just enough for your breakfast -and have it brought to your room at night so that she would stop and get -it in the morning. - -It is also a good plan to let the servants have their breakfast before -the family except in the case of a maid of all work, when this is almost -impossible to arrange. - -Then, about their Sundays, I think that church can’t do us much good if -we don’t give the servants an opportunity to go, too, if they want to, -or if we make it a hard day for them. Though it requires special -arrangement, their Sundays should be made a day to look forward to with -pleasure when each one can be sure of getting out, at some part of the -day, to church, or to see her friends. The Sunday morning that the cook -goes out, the lunch should be one that can be quickly cooked or her -outing would be too short. In the case of the waitress and chambermaid, -if, on their Sunday morning out, they waited to finish their work, they -would get out so late, in most places, that it wouldn’t be worth while -to go at all. This explains why, in the plan that I shall give you, it -is arranged that, on their Sunday mornings out, the chambermaid and -waitress stop whatever work they are doing promptly at 10 A.M., and get -ready to go out, the one who is _in_ taking the work up where the other -one has left it and finishing it in addition to her own. You will also -see that, with the following plan, you can take your choice of having -late dinner every other Sunday (when the cook is at home) or every -Sunday if your waitress is sufficiently expert and your cook prepares -some of the dinner dishes before going out. Sometimes it is the -chambermaid and sometimes the waitress that can cook best and likes the -afternoon all to herself. It doesn’t matter which you choose for that -duty; you simply use tact in this as in all your housekeeping. - -As for giving them any freedom in the evenings I think you will find it -a good plan to let the chambermaid and waitress alternate in going out, -provided their services are not required; this insures one always being -in the house so that the cook never has to go to the door. It is rather -an understood thing that the cook can go out any evening after her -regular work is done, of course, if her services are not required. - -With regard to the cook’s weekly duties I have never found that they -could be laid down as definitely as those of the other servants on -account of dinners and lunches coming in, when all her time has to be -devoted to the cooking. Therefore the washing and ironing (if it is done -in the house), the weekly cleaning of the kitchen, the hall steps, etc., -semiweekly cleaning of refrigerator and keeping the shelves and closets -clean, all have to be fitted in when she can manage them. On this very -account the mistress, in her morning visits to the kitchen, should look -around carefully to be sure that nothing is neglected, for everything -about a kitchen should be very clean if you want it to be sanitary. - - - _Description of the chambermaid’s book—Her general work_ - -Under this head was told, in paragraphs, thus dividing the subjects so -that they could be more easily seen and understood, what rooms, halls, -stairs, etc., she had charge of, whether she made up the rooms of the -other servants, washed her own clothes, bed-linen, etc., or had any of -the duties of a lady’s maid, such as mending, brushing, and taking out -or putting away her master’s and mistress’s clothes, or washing their -brushes and combs (which she can do if the family is small), or -polishing her mistress’s boots. As to her neatness,—what she was -expected to wear, and what her mistress provided her with, and about -asking her mistress for anything needed in order to do her work well. -The same instructions were given her about waiting on the door that were -given the waitress, telling her that when workmen, inspectors, and such -people had any work to do in her part of the house, she should accompany -them around wherever they went. - -Doing her work quietly and noiselessly was emphasized, especially the -opening and shutting of blinds, windows, and doors, and just how a -window should be opened top and bottom when airing a room, so that the -hot air could go out above and the fresh cold air come in below, thus -insuring good ventilation. It was impressed upon her that the doors of a -room should be shut while the windows were open so as not to chill the -rest of the house. - -Her duty with regard to trays was described,—that when any member of the -family was unable to come down to a meal she would be expected to take -the tray up so that the meal of the family would not be disturbed by the -waitress leaving the table to do this; also that she would prepare and -bring up breakfast trays where needed and that she should always hand -anything on a tray, even if it were only a paper of pins. Her duty on -the arrival of guests was explained: that she should be ready to carry -their bags upstairs, but that she should not unpack their bags without -asking if it was desired. It was made clearly understood that, when her -mistress had guests to dinner, she was to assist in the pantry, and when -there were many, she was to help in the dining-room and also to help -departing guests on with their wraps when they left the house. That she -was to do the duties of the waitress when the waitress was out was -explained to her, so that she would perform them without awkwardness. - - - _Her daily work_ - -Be up early, throw mattress and bedclothes over the foot of your bed to -air. - -After dressing, open windows top and bottom in your room, put pillows -near window to air, closing the door of your room and always of any room -you are airing (if the family is up) so as not to chill the rest of the -house. - -On your way downstairs open the windows in your halls top and bottom to -air. If desired, wake your mistress at the time specified. Have your own -breakfast. - -If none of the family rooms are vacated when you have finished your -breakfast, brush down the stairs and do up your own room; otherwise put -all the family rooms to air, ending with guest room so that you can go -right on with that room and finish it first. - -When beginning a room draw back the curtains, pull the shades up to the -top, open the windows top and bottom. Open closet doors and keep them -open while room airs so that they won’t get stuffy. - -Shake pillows and put them near the window, but so they won’t show from -the street. - -Put two chairs at foot of bed, draw blankets and sheets over them, turn -the mattress over the foot of the bed so that the air can go over and -under it. - -Put soiled clothing in bag or basket provided for it. - -Hang or fold and put away clothing or dresses. - -If there has been a coal fire remove ashes, make fire up ready to light, -wipe hearth; if a wood fire, leave the ashes. - -Empty slops, if there is a wash-basin in the room, clean bathroom, -washing tub and basin with hot water and soap or a cleanser, such as -Dutch Cleanser, and dry them with a soft cloth. - -Wash out soap-dish and other crockery and always see that there is soap -in the dish. Wash bowl of w.c. with a stiff brush that comes for the -purpose. - -Dust chair and woodwork and see that there are no spots on the mirror. -Remove soiled towels putting clean ones in their place. Take great care -not to let anything go down the pipes that would clog them. - -The bed having now had a chance to air, turn mattress over and make up -bed. - -If there are any scraps on the carpet, brush them up with dust pan and -brush or carpet sweeper. - -Dust furniture. - -Empty scrap basket and put contents in bag to carry downstairs. - -Shut windows, draw shades down half-way, and arrange curtains to hang -smooth; then go to next room. - -After the bedrooms are finished, begin the special weekly morning work -for that day, sweeping rooms or cleaning bedrooms, silver, or brasses, -or whatever it may be. - -After the morning work is over, make yourself neat and be ready to -assist at lunch table, if there are guests, or to go to the front door -while waitress is serving lunch or dressing for the afternoon or is out -or serving dinner. - -In arranging the rooms for the night, first close the blinds, if -desired, then draw down the shades, put soiled clothes in hamper, -hanging up clothing in closets, putting back in its place anything that -has been disarranged and leaving the room in order. - -If there is a washstand in the room, remove waste water and fill -pitchers. - -If night pillows are used, remove day pillows and shams; if same pillows -as day, take off shams, fold them carefully in their creases, and lay -them where they will not get tumbled. - -Remove bedspread, fold smooth. Open bed-clothing, turning down the -corner on one side, for one person or on both sides for two. - -Lay night-clothes neatly folded on the turned-down corner, placing -wrapper at the foot with slippers by it. - -If there is company be ready to assist the waitress. - -The weekly duties in detail, such as the thorough cleaning of each room, -bathroom, halls, bedrooms, silver and brasses, also the Sunday -arrangements and afternoons and evenings out, should appear here at the -end of the chambermaid’s book, but I cannot put it in for you, as it -varies in different households and localities. - - - _Description of the waitress’s book—Her general work_ - -Under this head she was told what rooms, halls, stairs, etc., she had -charge of (so that there could be no discussion between the maids); -also, if the vestibule was under her charge, she was reminded that, as -the entrance is the first impression people get of a house, nothing will -make them think the waitress incompetent so quickly as an untidy -vestibule and front hall, and that every morning the doormat should be -shaken, the floor brushed clean, and the woodwork dusted; also the -brasses rubbed up if they have become dull in between the weekly -cleanings. It was made clear to her whether she made up her own room, -washed her own clothes and bed-linen or aprons, or had any part in the -family washing and ironing. Neatness in her work and person was spoken -of—wearing checked gingham apron over her white one when doing such work -as cleaning brasses and silver, so that if she had to go to the front -door or answer any bell, she could slip it off easily and appear -properly dressed with clean white apron; how necessary it was to have -clean hands when waiting on the table and handling food; also about what -she was expected to wear and what her mistress provided for her, and -about asking her mistress for anything that she needed to do her work -well. - -Doing her work noiselessly was emphasized, especially opening and -shutting blinds, windows, and doors, and how the windows should be -opened top and bottom when airing to insure good ventilation, and that -the door of the room should be kept closed during this airing in order -not to chill the rest of the house. She was reminded that the -dining-room needed more airing than any other room and should be aired a -few moments after every meal, and also that the crumbs under the table -should be brushed up after each meal. - -The use of a tray was explained to her: that only _small_ articles -should be handed and removed on a tray when _waiting on the table_, and -that at other times she should always hand things on a tray, if it were -only a paper of pins. That promptness was necessary in answering bells, -especially the front doorbell, cautioning her as to whom she should let -in and who should wait outside the door, and that when any workmen, -inspectors, and such people had any work to do in the house she should -accompany them around wherever they go in her part of the house, and if -they should go to other parts of the house call the chambermaid or cook -to accompany them; also that she should not allow anything to be taken -out of the house unless she had been told to do so by some member of the -family. - -It was impressed on her that she must find out, _before going to the -door_, whether her mistress was in or out, so as never to keep any one -waiting, and that she should open the door wide to let visitors in and -then stand back to allow them to precede her, carrying a tray to the -door for the cards, and, if they have no cards, offering a pencil and -pad, which should always be kept in the front hall, for name or message. - -It was also impressed upon her that when waiting on the table she should -not speak unless spoken to, except when having a message to deliver; and -in case of an accident, such as dropping a knife, fork, or plate, she -should pick it up and take it into the pantry, immediately replacing it -with a fresh one. She was directed, should anything be dropped on the -carpet to wipe it up at once, or if water or wine should be spilled on -tablecloth, to dry it without a word, covering the spot with a fresh -napkin. She was told that in case of a wine or fruit stain on tablecloth -or napkins she should draw the spot tightly over a bowl, as soon after -the meal as possible, while the stain was fresh, and pour _boiling_ -water through it and thus remove the stain at once, and that the water -must be really _boiling_, as hot water would only set the stain. She was -also told how particular she should be when setting the table not to get -finger marks on china, silver, or glass, and that if she should see -holes in tablecloth or napkins she should call her mistress’s attention -to it before letting them go to the wash; that when the table was set -she should see that no drawers or doors of sideboard or china closet -were left open, to look disorderly, and also that it was her duty to see -that the carving-knife was sharp and that plates used for a hot course -should be warm, and for a cold course, cold. - -Leaving her pantry in nice order after every meal was mentioned, and -that she should not let soiled towels collect there, but every day wash -out the towels, dish cloths, and mop and hang them up to dry, once a -week thoroughly washing, scalding, and ironing them, always keeping -fresh ones on hand to take the place of soiled ones. - -The importance of letting the chambermaid know when she went upstairs to -get dressed for the afternoon or to go out, and also of telling her at -the same time what message was to be given at the door, so as not to -keep any one waiting, was impressed on her. - -She was told that she should rise when spoken to by any of the family or -guests; also it was explained to her that she was to do the duties of -the chambermaid when the chambermaid was out. - - - _Her daily work_ - -Be up early, throw mattress and bedclothes over the foot of your bed to -air. - -After dressing, open windows top and bottom in your room, put pillows -near window to air, closing the door of your room and always of any room -you are airing (if the family is up), so as not to chill the rest of the -house. - -On your way downstairs open windows top and bottom in the part of the -house which is in your charge, closing them after your breakfast in time -for the dining-room to get warm for the family breakfast. - -Your breakfast being over, set the family breakfast table, and if there -is not time for dusting before their breakfast, quickly put back into -place anything that has been put out of order the night before and make -the room look comfortable. - -If there has been a fire the night before, lay a fresh one ready to -light and brush up the hearth. - -Set the breakfast table, announce breakfast at the specified hour, and -serve it. - -When breakfast is over, wash all breakfast things and leave the pantry -in perfect order. - -Then begin the care of the rooms under your charge. - -Pick up any scraps on carpet with carpet sweeper and go over the wooden -floor with a dustless mop. - -Dust window sills and all pieces of furniture, using two dust cloths, -one to hold the furniture so that your hand will not leave a mark on it, -and the other to dust with. - -Empty scrap baskets and take contents downstairs. - -If there are lamps, trim and clean them, wiping carefully the outside of -the lamp and burner with damp cloth so that no oil will be left to make -it smell. - -Brush down stairs, holding dustpan under each step and wiping woodwork -carefully. - -Then begin the special morning work for that day, such as cleaning -parlor, dining-room and pantry, silver, halls and library, or brasses. - -This work should be accomplished in plenty of time to set the lunch -table without hurry. - -Announce lunch at the usual hour, and after it has been served and you -have had your own and washed the lunch things, dress yourself for the -afternoon in a neat black dress with fresh white apron and plain linen -collar and be ready at three-thirty to wait on the door. - -If you haven’t had a chance before this, polish the steel knives with -knife polish and board that comes for the purpose so that they will be -bright for dinner. - -Be ready to serve tea promptly in the afternoon if desired by your -mistress. - -As it gets dark, draw down the shades, light the regular lights that -your mistress has specified, and set the table for dinner in time to do -it nicely, announcing it at the appointed hour, waiting on it, and then -taking your own dinner. After your dinner, remove whatever is left on -the table; take off, fold up, and put away tablecloth; wash the dishes, -and leave pantry in nice order. - -If there are no guests, take in the doormat, close and lock front door -and any windows desired by your mistress, at the hour appointed by her. - - - _Miscellaneous notes for the waitress Washing dishes, etc._ - -In washing the dishes, always do the cleanest things first, in this -order; glass, silver; then cups and saucers, plates, and other dishes. -Empty every glass and cup, and scrape clean every plate or dish (with a -plate scraper, that comes with a rubber edge and is consequently -noiseless), before putting them in the water. Don’t let pitchers or -glasses stand with milk in them, but rinse them at once before putting -them in the water so that it will be easy to wash them. Don’t put many -things into the water at a time or different kinds of things, such as -teapot, sauce boat, and dinner plates; for the water will cool too -quickly when so full and the plates will get chipped and spouts broken. -Change the water frequently. When washing the silver, always include -trays in daily use even if they do not seem soiled. Use plenty of fresh -very hot suds, and, after washing the silver well, put it on the drainer -and pour boiling hot water over it. This heat will almost dry it, then -rub _quickly_ with clean dish-cloth and put all the pieces at once where -they belong before they can get spattered; setting them down with a dish -towel to prevent finger marks. This will keep the silver so bright that -the weekly cleaning is a much easier matter. The china should be rinsed -just as you have the silver, only not using such very hot water. -Remember that silver and brasses cannot be made bright by slow rubbing, -but that you must rub them briskly. - - - _Care of the dining-table_ - -If the dining-table has a high polish, be careful always to put a tile -or tray or a linen mat lined with asbestos under anything that is hot, -otherwise a bad spot will be made. If the table has an oil finish heat -will not injure it and a damp cloth will remove any spot. Two or three -times a week such a dining-table should be rubbed over well with a soft -cloth on which two or three drops of boiled linseed oil have been put. -Too much oil will only make the table sticky and in condition to catch -dust. But just a very little, rubbed in well, will, in time, give it a -high polish of which you will be proud. These oiled rags are very -dangerous to keep in the house, as they catch fire of themselves without -any flame coming near them. Either keep them hanging on a clothes-line -in the yard or else indoors in a metal box. - - * * * * * - -The weekly duties in detail, such as the thorough cleaning of -dining-room, parlor, pantry, halls, silver, brasses, etc., and the -Sunday arrangements and afternoons and evenings out, should appear here -at the end of the waitress’s book, but, as I said before, I cannot put -it in for you because that is something you have to arrange for -yourself. - - - _Description of the cook’s book_ - _Her general work_ - -Under this head the cook was told definitely just what rooms, closets, -halls, steps, etc., she was expected to clean; whether she was expected -to put any coal on the furnace or look after its drafts between the -visits of the furnace man; whether she had any washing and ironing to -do; how careful she should be to scrub out every part of the -refrigerator once or twice a week with soda and hot water, household -ammonia, or some such thing, airing it well afterwards and taking the -opportunity before a fresh piece of ice was put in thoroughly to clean -out the ice compartment; also the drain pipe for that compartment with a -brush that comes especially for this; also that she should be careful to -empty the pan under the refrigerator frequently to prevent its -overflowing and rotting the floor; that the milk and butter should be -kept in a compartment by themselves, and no food with strong odor, such -as pineapples or melons, be put in the refrigerator with it as their -flavor would be absorbed by the milk and butter which would taste bad in -consequence; also that no hot food or articles wrapped in paper should -be put into the refrigerator. She was cautioned not to let any scraps -get into the sink pipes, but to scrape clean all plates, pots, or dishes -after each meal, into a strainer kept for the purpose in the corner of -the sink and frequently emptied into the garbage, and that once a week -she should wash down the pipes with boiling water and lye. She was -reminded that the kitchen towels should be washed in hot suds every day -and thoroughly boiled once a week; that the pudding-bags or any -straining-cloths should be washed after each using and put away dry and -clean. - -It was especially impressed upon her to keep the dumb waiter shut and -any door that would allow the kitchen odors to get into the house. - -The signals to the waitress during the serving of the meals were -explained to her (for instance, one bell for taking course off the -range, two bells to send to pantry) to prevent delay between courses; -also she was told that hot food should be served on a warm platter and -cold food on a cold one. In order to serve the meals promptly on time, -she was reminded to see every day whether her clock agreed with her -master’s. The fact that the ovens would not bake well unless the flues -of the range were cleared at least once a week of all ashes, and that -this should be done in the morning before the range fire was hot, was -explained to her; also that when a hot fire was not needed for immediate -use the dampers and drafts should be closed to prevent waste of coal and -kindlings. She was cautioned not to waste anything, but to lay aside all -left-over food for her mistress to see and decide about; also not to use -the nice china when putting food away in the refrigerator, for fear it -might get broken. The importance of being neat and clean both in her -cooking and person, washing her hands before handling food, and wearing -neat cotton aprons and dresses was emphasized. She was told that no -visitors should be allowed in the kitchen during meals and that she -should not let workmen, etc., go into the house except by permission of -her mistress and accompanied by one of the other maids whom she should -notify; also that the responsibility of keeping the outside kitchen door -and gate locked was hers as well as the locking-up of her department at -night. - - - _Her daily work_ - -On getting up, throw mattress and bedclothes over the foot of your bed -to air. - -After dressing, open windows top and bottom in your room, putting -pillows near window to air and closing the door of your room so as not -to chill the house. - -Have the range fire going in time to have plenty of hot water for the -family baths. - -The range fire burning brightly, prepare the maids’ breakfast (if that -comes first) and put the family cereal on to cook during your meal and -anything else that requires long cooking. - -Cook the family breakfast. - -After both breakfasts are over, put the kitchen in order and be ready to -take your mistress’s orders for the day, going with her to the ice-chest -and showing her the left-overs there and in the wire safe. - -When your mistress comes into the kitchen, rise and remain standing -while she is there. - -When her visit is over, make your first duty the preparing and serving -of food well and on time, the other duties being fitted in between, till -the last meal is over and the time has come to arrange the kitchen for -the night, when you should put away all food in the refrigerator or wire -safe, wipe the tables off, brush up the hearth, and leave nothing to -attract mice or water-bugs or near enough the stove to catch fire. - -If the range fire is made new every day, place kindlings, coal, and -paper in a convenient place ready for use before going to bed, to avoid -delay in the morning, and before leaving the kitchen see that all -windows, doors, and gates in your department are securely locked. - - - _Miscellaneous notes for cook—Making the range fire if it is never - allowed to go out_ - -About half an hour before leaving the kitchen for the night, put coal -on, open the drafts, and, when the fire is hot, fill up well with coal, -then check the drafts and leave them checked so that the fire will -smoulder all night. In the morning, open the drafts, shake down the -grate, put on a little kindling and fresh coal, and the fire will burn -brightly in a short time. - - - _Making the range fire if started fresh every morning_ - -Shake the ashes out thoroughly, picking out pieces of coal only partly -burned to be used again and putting ashes in ash can to be taken away. -Put loose rolls of paper in, then kindlings laid crosswise and far -enough apart for a draft of air to go through freely, then light the -papers, turning the dampers to make a draft. When the kindlings are -burning well, put the coal on in small quantities at first, adding more -when this is well started. - -Before starting the first fire after the house has been closed, burn -newspapers in the range to warm the chimney and thus prevent its smoking -by starting an upward draft. - -Sunday arrangements, also afternoons and evenings out in detail, should -come here. - - - SUGGESTION FOR ARRANGEMENT OF SERVANTS’ SUNDAYS - - _First Sunday—Morning_ - -Cook is in, gets lunch and prepares as much of the dinner as she can. - -Waitress is out from 10 A.M. till time to wash lunch dishes. - -Chambermaid is in and in addition to her own work does any of the -waitress’s work that is left unfinished after 10 A.M. and serves lunch. - - _Afternoon_ - -Cook is out, after she has washed up lunch things, till 11 P.M. - -Waitress is in, prepares and serves dinner. - -Chambermaid is out, after she has served lunch, till 11 P.M. - - - _Second Sunday—Morning_ - -Cook is out, after washing up breakfast things, till time to cook lunch. - -Waitress is in, and in addition to her own work, does any chamberwork -left unfinished after 10 A.M. - -Chambermaid is out after 10 A.M. till her lunch time. - - - _Afternoon_ - -Cook is in. Cooks dinner. - -Waitress is out, after she has washed lunch dishes, till 11 P.M. - -Chambermaid is in and serves dinner. - -The third Sunday is like the first. - -The fourth Sunday is like the second. - -And so it goes on in twos, each servant having every other Sunday -morning out and every other Sunday afternoon and evening out. - - -Well, Penelope dear, I had almost forgotten I was writing to you, these -extracts from my letter to Hope have become so voluminous! It is -fortunate that they need no comment, for I could not write another line, -since it is the middle of the night and I am perfectly exhausted and -disgracefully sleepy. - -Very affectionately your devoted friend, - - _Jane Prince_. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - CHAPTER VIII ⬩ BEHIND THE - SCENES AT A DINNER ❧ - - - YORK HARBOR, _October 15_. - -_Penelope Pennington_! - -What is this that you tell me! _You_ are to have charge of a formal -dinner for your Aunt Sally! How perfectly dear it is of her to give one -to Mr. and Mrs. Winslow in appreciation of Tom’s promotion. I have been -to many of your aunt’s dinners in the past and know how smoothly she -will want everything to go, so I am not surprised at your excitement at -the thought of making all the arrangements for her, and I am very glad -that she feels strong enough to be present herself. I understand from -your letter that you do not wish for a menu, as you want to choose that -yourself, or for any directions about wines, as you can find all that in -cookery books, but you do want to know about preparations “behind the -scenes,” as it were, to make everything go like clockwork. First, -foremost, and last I am evidently to drop everything and write you at -once! Do you realize, dear child, that I am off, in a few days, on that -motor trip through the Berkshires about which I wrote you? But since it -is for _you_, I will stop my preparations for a little and write this if -it takes me all night! - -To set a household like your aunt’s going for such an affair, after it -has been shut off from social life for so long, is almost like starting -with untrained servants, so I shall give you directions in minute -detail. Since you can’t tell yet whether it is to be a dinner of eight -or twelve, I will write a description for one of eight complete and then -describe in general terms the difference between the two. - -It will be delightful to engineer the dinner without a moment’s worry -about expense, knowing that your aunt is so perfectly well able to -afford it. People who make such attempts when they cannot afford it -deserve all the worry that they suffer. Others always know that they are -attempting something beyond their means and they lose, in a measure, the -respect of the very people whom they have tried to impress. About the -only difference from one’s everyday dinner is that nothing is served on -the table and the courses are more in number, and it is well to impress -this on the minds of your aunt’s servants. Don’t let the thought of a -dinner mean only hard work to them, but let them feel sure of having -plenty of ice-cream, cake, candy, etc., afterwards, so that there can be -a festive feeling downstairs as well as up. There is a good deal of -extra work, and also late hours, in connection with a dinner of this -kind and the servants deserve some encouragement and reward. - -Several days before the dinner make out the menu from the dishes that -the cook makes the best, not attempting anything new. Give her -confidence by consulting her a little, and also encourage her by -praising the way she cooks these special dishes, at the same time -cautioning her on the necessity of great care on such an occasion and of -keeping her reputation up. See that she has the proper kitchen utensils -needed in good order for use. Then go over each dish in a good receipt -book putting down on a writing-pad exactly what is needed for each -course, how much milk, butter, eggs, cream, seasoning, vegetables, meat, -etc. - -Your menu having been decided upon with the cook, then go over, with the -waitress, the china, glass, silver, etc., to see if there are eight of -everything unbroken for each course. Jot down on a memorandum what -broken pieces, if any, have to be replaced. Go over the silver and -decide how you will use that. Don’t make a great undertaking of this, -but do it quickly. It won’t take long. Decide, at this time, what -flowers you will have and what color scheme, and see if the candle -shades are in good order and that there are enough candles. Once having -done all this, should your aunt want you to take charge of a dinner for -her again, the waitress, if she is reliable, can do this part herself -and report to you if anything is needed. See that the broken china and -glass are replaced several days before the dinner. - -Now that you have decided on the menu, and what china, glass, silver, -and candle shades you intend using, you can write out the directions for -the waitress for serving the dinner, putting opposite each course what -plates and platters you want used for that course and have these -directions ready to pin up in the pantry. I cannot say too much about -getting everything off your mind that you can the day before the dinner. -On this day, in order to keep the cook calm, see for yourself that all -the necessary articles, except very perishable ones, are in the house, -and have her prepare the clear soup and anything else that she can on -that day. Take this time to tell her (or to show her pictures from -cookery books) how you like to have the dishes decorated, and also -remind her that one signal (or bell) from the pantry means to dish up -and keep a course hot, and two signals (or bells) to send it up to the -pantry, and caution her how a few minutes’ delay in the kitchen seems a -long time in the dining-room, so she has to be quick. Write out the menu -very clearly for her and pin it up in the kitchen, and then decide on -the platters and dishes to be used. In fact, have all your conversation -with her about the dinner the day before. Write the place cards. (Plain -blank cards are dignified and answer the purpose just as well as fancy, -elaborate ones which are expensive, and the money saved can go toward -pretty flowers that will really add to the beauty of the table and the -pleasure of the guests.) Find out the day before the dinner just how -your aunt wishes the guests to be seated and write this down, so that it -will only take a moment when the table is set to put the cards at their -proper places. (Of course Mr. and Mrs. Winslow being the guests of -honor, Tom will take in Mrs. Winslow, who will sit at his right, and Mr. -Winslow will take your aunt in and sit at her right.) At the same time -address the little envelopes that come for the purpose, one for each man -guest, and slip into them the card with the name of the lady he is to -take in to dinner. Keep all these things in a sideboard drawer to be on -hand when you want them. - -In the case of this first formal dinner with your aunt’s present -servants, you will have to be on the spot most of the morning if you -want to take a rest in the afternoon. You can give the dining-room up to -the dinner that day and lunch at a side-table or in the library. After -your short interview of encouragement with the cook, you read to the -waitress and chambermaid the directions for serving the dinner and see -that they understand their parts in it, and try to make them ambitious -that everything should go well and be a credit to them. You then pin -these directions up in the pantry. These directions can be used for many -dinners until they are worn out. After this you superintend putting on -the under-pad and then the tablecloth which must be very smooth. The -chambermaid must help the waitress, as it takes two to put on a large -cloth without mussing it. Watch the waitress put the eight plates around -the table, to be sure they are evenly spaced (two on each side, if the -table is wide enough; otherwise with eight there must be a gentleman at -the head and another at the foot in order not to have two gentlemen or -two ladies side by side). Next have the waitress set one place -completely, under your directions, with small silver, glasses, and -napkins as in the family dinner (only more, as the courses require[1]), -so that she can set all the places like it without your being there to -direct her. Leave her to put fresh candles in the candlesticks, and a -final polish on the china, silver, and glass that are to be used during -the dinner, while you arrange the flowers. No matter how nicely any one -keeps house, there is a great deal for the servants to think of for a -dinner, and as they have never served one for you before, should you get -the impression in the morning that things are not going on very well, -you will have to be in the dining-room a good deal, quietly seeing that -no time is lost. - - -Footnote 1: - - If you don’t like so many forks and knives on the table at once, - put enough for the first three courses and have the others brought - on with the plates of each course as in the case of dessert. - - -After the lunch things have been cleared off and the servants have had -their lunch, you superintend the setting of the side-table with the -extra things that will be needed during the dinner, such as the plates -for cold courses, any small silver that may be needed, a plate for the -extra bread and rolls, and all the plates for the last course, on each -of which is a doily, and a finger bowl one third full of water. All -these things should be prettily arranged in a symmetrical manner, and if -there isn’t room on the side-table some can go on the sideboard, as they -must all be convenient. - -After the side-table is set, you can go with the waitress into the -pantry and have her send down to the kitchen all platters, dishes, etc., -that are to be served from there and arrange, in a corner of the pantry -out of the way and in piles, the plates for the different courses, -putting on each pile a slip of paper telling what course it is for, so -that the servants won’t get confused. See that the tray of after-dinner -coffee-cups is arranged in the pantry with a spoon on each saucer, and -with the sugar tongs on the bowl of sugar. Then go and rest and come -down later when the waitress reports to you that she has finished -setting the dining-table. You will probably find that it doesn’t look to -your satisfaction, but don’t put the servants out of temper with -criticisms. Take it for granted that they have done their best, speak -well of what is right, and straighten out what is wrong with -explanations, giving the finishing touches yourself. Then should your -aunt give any more dinners under your supervision, her servants could do -most of this themselves. After the dinner is over, and the guests are -gone, be generous in your praise to the servants of everything that went -well and wait for another time to show how to correct any mistakes that -were made. They will probably go to bed very tired that night, but happy -because they have pleased you. - -Here are the details for the dinner:— - -When you post your written directions in the pantry, it is well to -underline the _waitress’s_ with red pencil, the _chambermaid’s_ with -blue, so that each can see at a glance where her duty comes in. - -The signals to be used to send the courses up at a dinner have to be -carefully understood beforehand between the servants in the dining-room -and kitchen. Generally it gives the cook about the right time if, when -the first guest has finished, the chambermaid rings one bell for her to -dish and keep the course hot, and when more than half the guests have -finished, two bells to send to the pantry. This depends, however, so -much on the quickness of the servants, etc., that they have to learn -gradually, by experience, the proper time interval between bells. The -standard of perfection to aspire to, is no waiting between courses and -no hurrying during courses. - -After the first two courses I will give you but few details, because in -serving every course the following general method is to be observed:— - -The same signs and signals are passed at the proper time between -waitress, chambermaid, and cook for removing and bringing on every -course. - -In _every_ course where there is a main dish and two other dishes, the -chambermaid (after having taken all the soiled plates from the waitress -and in return given her all the fresh ones) gives the main dish to the -waitress and then follows her all around the table with a dish in each -hand offering first one, then the other, to every guest. - -Soiled plates are _always_ replaced with fresh ones from the _right_ -side of each person, and all foods are _always_ offered on the _left_ -side. The lady on the _right_ of the host is served first. - -During _every_ course, where there is but _one thing_ to pass, the -chambermaid remains in the pantry, handing out and taking in plates and -keeping the pantry in order. - -One course is _always_ entirely removed into the pantry before another -course is brought on. - -Let us take the following dinner as an example:— - - - First course, canapé. - Second course, soup. - Third course, fish. - Fourth course, entrée. - Fifth course, roast and two vegetables. - Sixth course, salad, etc. - Seventh course, ices and cakes. - Eighth course, candies. - Ninth course, coffee. - -You can omit either canapé or entrée or both if you prefer. - - - DINNER OF EIGHT SERVED BY THREE SERVANTS - - _Directions for the two dining-room servants_ - - -_Fifteen minutes_ before the hour for dinner, the chambermaid, in neat -black dress, with cap, plain white collar and cuffs, and apron, all -immaculately clean and fresh, sees that the lights are lighted in the -dressing-room, and stands ready to help the ladies off with their wraps. -When they have all arrived and have left the dressing-room, she turns -down the light and goes right to the dining-room ready to help the -waitress. - -_Fifteen minutes_ before the hour for dinner, the waitress, after having -lighted the lights on the parlor floor and in the front hall stands at -the front door watching to open it promptly to prevent any guest from -having to ring the bell. She helps the gentlemen off with their coats, -hangs up their hats, places their canes in the rack, and hands them the -tray on which the card envelopes have been placed. When all the guests -have arrived, the chambermaid signals the cook this fact, then fills the -glasses with iced water, while the waitress lights the candles on the -dining-table. Then both bring in quickly the plates of canapé, placing -them on the serving plates already at each place. - -The chambermaid then goes into the pantry. When this is done, the -waitress gives a last look to see that nothing has been forgotten and -that the candles are all burning well, and goes quietly into the parlor -and says in a low voice, “Dinner is served, Mrs. ——.” - - _First course—canapé_[2] - - -Footnote 2: - - This can be brought in after the guests are seated, like the other - courses, if preferred. - - -which is on the table when the guests come into the dining-room. When -the first guest has finished this course, the waitress makes a silent -sign to the chambermaid, who is in the pantry, and she signals to the -cook (one bell), which means that the next course is to be dished up and -kept hot. When more than half of the guests have finished, the waitress -makes a silent sign to the chambermaid again, who signals (two bells) to -the cook, which means to send up the - - _Second course—soup_ - -When the soup comes into the pantry the chambermaid fills all the plates -half full and hands a plate to the waitress, who comes to the pantry -door for it. The waitress takes the plate in her _right_ hand and goes -to the _right_ side of the lady on the _right_ of the host,[3] and -picking up the used canapé plate with her _left_ hand, replaces it, on -the serving plate, with the plate of soup. She then watches and, as each -guest finishes, she replaces the canapé plate with a plate of soup, the -chambermaid standing inside the pantry door ready to take the used plate -and to hand her the soup plate. As soon as all have soup, the waitress -passes any accompaniment, on a small tray, all around the table, while -the chambermaid remains in the pantry to straighten and keep it in -order. - - -Footnote 3: - - Many people have everything passed first to the hostess. This is a - matter of taste. - - - _Third course—fish in ramekins on individual plates_ - -This is brought on and served the same as the soup, but in removing it -the waitress replaces each fish plate with an empty hot plate, and then -the - - _Fourth course—the entrée_ - -is brought on by the waitress who holds the casserole or platter with -both hands under it and passes it in regular order all around the table. -This course having been removed and fresh hot plates having replaced the -used ones, the - - _Fifth course—the roast_ - -is brought on. The waitress passes the roast all around the table and -the chambermaid follows with a dish of vegetables in each hand, which -she offers on the _left_ side of each person in turn till all have been -served. Anything else in this course is passed all around in the same -way by the chambermaid. If the dish is large, it should be carried in -her hands; if small, on a tray. The waitress then watches to fill -glasses and pass rolls. Having done this, the chambermaid returns to the -pantry and when the roast course has been removed and fresh plates have -been substituted for used ones, she hands the waitress the - - _Sixth course—the salad_ - -following her all around the table with whatever accompaniment there may -be and then returning to the pantry. In removing this course the -waitress takes two plates at a time, one in each hand (_never_ on top of -each other), and does not replace them with other plates. When this -course is completely removed, the waitress brings a tray and, going -around the table, takes off peppers and salts and any small silver or -knives that are left there, and takes them to the pantry, being very -careful not to make the slightest noise. The chambermaid follows with a -folded napkin and silver tray and removes the crumbs. Then the -chambermaid returns to the pantry, and the waitress, bringing in each -hand a dessert plate with fork and spoon on it; places them in turn -before each person, setting them down from the right side. She then -takes the dessert platter from the chambermaid in the pantry and brings -on the - - _Seventh course—dessert_ - -and passes it all around the table, the chambermaid following with cake. -When this course is removed and the dessert plates are replaced by -plates with finger bowls, the waitress passes the - - _Eighth course—candy_ - -placing the little dishes of different kinds on a tray. While the guests -are at this course the chambermaid sees that the fire in the parlor -burns brightly and the lights are all turned up, and when all have -finished dinner and have gone into the parlor, she passes the coffee and -cigars to the gentlemen in the dining-room or library, while the -waitress passes the coffee to the ladies in the parlor. When the -gentlemen, after smoking, join the ladies in the parlor, the waitress -passes, on a tray, glasses which she fills with ice-cold Apollinaris or -White Rock, and offers to each guest. When the guests are about to -leave, the waitress, on the first signal of the parlor bell, goes to the -front door to help the gentlemen on with their coats, hand them their -canes and hats, and open the front door, while the chambermaid is in the -dressing-room ready to help the ladies on with their wraps. - - - _Special notes for chambermaid at dinner of eight_ - -After having helped the waitress put the canapé on the table, return to -the pantry, where your duties are: - -To signal the cook when signed by the waitress to do so. - -To keep the pantry from getting into confusion, by piling used plates -out of the way and sending platters down to the kitchen. - -To be ready to take used plates from the waitress instantly and hand her -the ones for the next course, and where there is more than one dish -served at a course to hand the main dish to the waitress and follow her -into the dining-room with the lesser dishes, passing them around just -after the waitress and then returning to the pantry. - -To see that the plates are warm for hot courses and cold for cold ones. - -To follow the waitress when she is removing salts and peppers, and take -up the crumbs. - -To go into the parlor while the guests are at the last course and see -that the fire burns brightly and that the lights are turned up. - -To return to the pantry, and when coffee comes up to pour it into the -cups and give one tray to the waitress to serve the ladies and take the -other yourself to the gentlemen. - -To help the waitress wash up the dishes after the dinner. - -To answer the doorbell should it ring while dinner is being served. - -To be ready on the first signal of the parlor bell to go into the -ladies’ dressing-room and help them on with their wraps. - - - _Dinner of twelve_ - -Should the dinner turn out to be one of twelve instead of eight, it will -make a difference in your arrangements, because, while the preparations -made before and after the actual dinner are identical with those made -for a dinner of eight, yet certain changes are necessary in the service; -namely, the chambermaid should be relieved that day from doing her -weekly cleaning, and, as soon as the bedrooms are finished, she should -help either the cook or waitress as they may need her; also some one -will be required in the kitchen to assist the cook, and some one to come -about half an hour before the dinner to stay in the pantry and do there -what the chambermaid did in the dinner of eight, except that she does -not come out of the pantry during the dinner, and therefore the two -waiting on the table are not obliged to go into the pantry. The courses -are passed and removed in the same way as in the dinner of eight, except -that there are two to do it instead of one, and therefore to avoid -collision it is well for one to take one side of the table and the other -the other side, in the courses where this is possible. In the case of -the entrée or dessert, two platters are often used to make it go -quicker, the waitress beginning with the lady on the right of the host -and ending with the hostess and the chambermaid beginning with the guest -on the right of the hostess and ending with the host. After the dessert -all the arrangements are the same as in a dinner for eight. - - - _Directions for the maid in the pantry at a dinner of twelve_ - -_Fifteen minutes before_ the dinner, go into the pantry, shut the door, -and fill the sink with hot water, so that in case you need to rinse -anything off during the dinner you can do it without noise. Remember -that every sound can be heard in the dining-room, so be very careful not -to make the slightest noise in handling the silver and china and to move -the dumb waiter up and down very quietly and slowly. Be ready, when the -waitress hands you the plates that have been used, to hand her back -instantly the fresh plates for the next course till all are handed out, -and to ring one bell to signal the cook the first time the waitress -makes a sign to you to do it, and two bells the second time she gives -you this sign. When you have handed all the plates out for a course, -give out the main dish for that course at once, handing immediately -afterwards the dishes that go with the course; as, for example, fresh -hot plates first, then the roast, followed quickly with the two -vegetables, always putting on each platter and in the vegetable dishes -the necessary spoons, forks, or knives. Remember that hot dishes must -have warm plates and cold dishes cold ones. - -As soon as you receive from the waitresses the platters and dishes of -any finished course, send them down to the kitchen and occupy any time -that you have, while a course is going on in the dining-room, in piling -plates out of the way in order not to have them litter up the pantry -where you will need all the space you can get during the dinner. Don’t -let this or anything else interfere with handing a course promptly. When -the coffee comes up from the kitchen, fill all the cups on the two trays -and hand them to the waitresses.[4] - - -Footnote 4: - - It is best to have the soup sent from the kitchen to the pantry in - a pitcher, as it keeps hotter and can be more quickly poured into - plates. - - -I am afraid, Penelope, that you will think there is a great deal of -detail in these dinner directions, but my own dislike of detail is just -what leads me to write it out so fully for you, so that you can have it -on paper, in your housekeeping book, instead of keeping it in your mind. -My experience, too, is that you cannot be too explicit when instructing -servants to whom you are not accustomed, and these very details, once -written out and left for them to consult, will enable you to make all -your preparations for other dinners with ease before the day and leave -you on that day free to pay your visits and lead your normal life, only -coming in toward the end of the afternoon to make a final inspection to -see that everything is right. You can see how confident I am that your -aunt, once having felt the pleasure of opening her house again, will -want to do it frequently. - - * * * * * - -What a variety of subjects we have been over together in these letters! -I can’t imagine what next you can ask me unless it be advice on the -management of a young and attractive husband, and happily I shall escape -that by flight! Don’t imagine, Penelope, dear, that I think I have -smoothed out the whole domestic situation for you, for I cannot do much -more than try to give you principles to work on, hoping that you and -your bright young women friends will discuss it rationally together in -order that you may meet the problem more wisely and broadly and in a -more human spirit than our generation has done. The world moves and we -must move along with it, but we can have no better rule to go by in -facing _any_ conditions than the one given us over nineteen hundred -years ago, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do -ye also unto them.” - -_Au revoir_, dear; think of my actually being able to go off on a -pleasure trip! You can imagine how full of excitement I am over it, for -I couldn’t have done this a year ago, and couldn’t now if it weren’t for -my delightful relatives who are making everything so smooth and easy for -me. - -_Au revoir_, love to Tom and success to that exciting dinner. I shall -hope to hear all about it when I come back. - - Very affectionately yours, - - _Jane Prince_. - - - THE END - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - The Riverside Press - CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS - U · S · A - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -● Transcriber’s note: - - ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. - - ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. - - ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only - when a predominant form was found in this book. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO A YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER*** - - -******* This file should be named 63180-0.txt or 63180-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/1/8/63180 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |