Maid of All Work

 I love old houses, but certain aspects of them are kind of a pain. Case in point: all that wide, natural woodwork with those fancy, dust catching do-dads. After a while, just running the dust mop or the vacuum tool over them does not cut it. Somebody really needs to reach up high, get down low, and give those puppies a good going over on a regular basis. Anymore, that somebody is not me. I just cannot do it. HeHimself has WorkerWorker; sometimes I think I need HelperHelper, not every day, mind you, although that would be nice, but at least occasionally to help me with projects that are now getting beyond my comfort level one way or another.

My Victorian great grandmother might have called such a person a "maid of all work". In her day that was someone who would take on whatever the Lady of the House needed assistance with. Some of our friends have had younger Amish teenagers work for them. That might be an option if we lived in Amish Country, but we don't at present. All of this has gotten me thinking of domestic help in our family over the years.

My mother never had household help because she had me. From little on I was her right hand gal when it came to domestic chores. My mother in law, on the other hand, did have help as she always worked in my father in law's office. She had a weekly cleaning lady. Both homes ran smoothly and always looked presentable. Both families were social and did quite a bit of entertaining.

When my country grandmother graduated from 8th grade in about 1914, she and her two sisters all worked as household maids for a couple years before moving on to jobs in stores and offices until they got married. That grandmother never had help in the house, but she had four children at her beck and call and a helpful husband to lighten the load. That grandpa worked for the City, had regular hours with evenings and weekends free, and was willing to pitch in when needed. 

My city grandmother, born in 1889, had the advantage of going to high school. She never did domestic work, instead going on to training as a tailor/seamstress which she did until getting married. Her sister trained as a secretary which stood her in good stead, being a single lady all her life.  I am thinking that Grandma did not have live-in help early on, but may have had a daily or weekly worker. Later on, though, when the four children came along, I know she had at least weekly help because my father talked about a laundress who came on wash day. That grandfather ran the family business, had irregular hours, and therefore was not always around to give a helping hand. 

Of my four great grandmothers, I know for sure two of them were in domestic service until they married. One was a housemaid in a private home, while the other did housekeeping in a hotel. I never heard tell that either of them ever had household workers. They did, however, each have two daughters who were of help. From what I know of those two great grandfathers, one a farmer and one a factory worker, it never sounded to me like they did much in the way of inside house chores, but did keep up things outside.

I am not sure if either of my other two great grandmothers went into domestic service. I am guessing not, as one had a twice widowed mother who needed her at home and the other came came from a family of means so that she did not have to make her own way. 

The first of these last two great grandmothers married young, had a large family, including three daughters who were good help until they went out to work. She did not have live in help, but did have a partly disabled brother and a widowed brother in law living with the family who pitched in as needed. This great grandfather was a farmer as well as a builder and stone mason. He was very busy outside the home, and sadly died young. That great grandmother carried a load of work and responsibility. 

My final great grandmother seemingly started out life as the daughter of a family well off enough so that she did not have to go out to work. However, her circumstances changed drastically when the family made their way to the US. Her mother and younger brother  died on the journey west, and things were never the same after that. 

Her siblings scattered, each making their own ways as best they could. She found work in a tailor shop where she met my great grandfather when he came to have a new suit made. Early in marriage she kept house without help until Great Grandpa came home from the Civil War disabled, but not bedridden. After that she always had live-in help. Great Grandpa was well enough to direct his various businesses but not to lend much aid around the house. Great Grandma needed domestic help to keep up with their large family and in maintaining their home. At least in the earlier years she also worked in the family businesses. 

In two cases live-in domestics ended up marrying into our family. One was a maid who married a son of the family. The other was a housekeeper who married a widower. Unfortunately it does not appear that either of these situations worked out too well in the end. No truly happy ending like in the movies in either instance.

So that is the story of household workers in several generations of my family. I will have to take a look at how things went among HeHimself's relatives. I am still pondering if I might look into hiring a HelperHelper in the future. How is, or was, it in your family? Any maids of all work lurking on your family tree?