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Domestic service

Chapter 48: APPENDIX III
By Lucy Maynard Salmon
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About This Book

A systematic study of household employment based on questionnaires from employers and employees, presenting statistical tables and summaries of wages, tenure, hours, and working conditions. It examines geographic and demographic patterns and institutional supports such as exchanges and training in household skills. Employer and employee viewpoints are compared to reveal sources of dissatisfaction and turnover. The author evaluates pay relative to other occupations, surveys European practices, and offers practical recommendations and social reforms aimed at improving the organization, training, and standing of domestic labor.

APPENDIX III

The following circular letter was sent out in November, 1895, to the members of the Civic Club of Philadelphia:

The Committee on Household Economics to the Members of the Civic Club:

The following standards of work and wages are submitted by the Committee on Household Economics to the members of the Civic Club for their consideration, with a view to taking some action on the subject during the next season.

If any amendments or additions suggest themselves to the members of the Club, will they please note them in the blank space left for that purpose, and send the paper to the Chairman of the Household Economics at the address given below?

In case an applicant for service fails to come up to these standards, the employer agrees to furnish instruction in the points of failure, the employee agreeing to share half the expense of such instruction by accepting a corresponding reduction of weekly wages until skill is attained. It is understood, of course, that the employer furnishes the proper materials and utensils for the performance of the labor.

STANDARDS OF WORK AND WAGES IN HOUSEHOLD LABOR

Cooks at $3.50 or $4.00 per Week

  • Must understand care of range or stove.
  • Must understand care of sinks and drains.
  • Must understand care of kitchen, cellar, and ice-chest.
  • Must understand care of utensils.
  • Must understand making bread, biscuit, muffins, and griddle cakes.

  • Must understand making soup stock.
  • Must understand roasting, boiling, and broiling meats.
  • Must understand dressing and cooking poultry.
  • Must understand cooking eggs, fish, and oysters.
  • Must understand cooking vegetables, fresh or canned.
  • Must understand making tea and coffee.
  • Must understand making plain desserts.

Waitresses at $3.00 or $3.50 per Week

  • Must understand care of dining-room.
  • Must understand care of silver, glass, and china.
  • Must understand care and attention in waiting on the table.
  • Must understand care of parlor and halls.
  • Must understand answering the door-bell properly.

Chambermaids at $3.00 or $3.50 per Week

  • Must understand care of bedrooms.
  • Must understand care of beds and bedding.
  • Must understand sweeping and dusting.
  • Must understand care of toilet and bath-rooms.
  • Must understand care of hard-wood floors.

Child’s Nurse at $3.00 or $3.50 per Week

  • Must understand washing, dressing, and feeding of children.
  • Must understand general care of the health and well-being of children.

Laundress at $3.50 or $4.00 per Week

  • Must understand washing and ironing.
  • Must understand general care of bed- and table-linen and clothes.

Seamstress at $3.50 or $4.00 per Week

  • Must understand plain sewing.
  • Must understand mending and darning.
  • Must understand use of sewing machine.