The
Servant Problem
On March 21, 1896, the
opening of the Domestic Training School at 432 South Main Street in Orange, NJ was
reported in The New York Times. Brainchild of “the fashionable housewives of
the Oranges,” the “School for Servants” was established by the Women’s
Improvement Society.
It was high time. The 1890s
building boom in the Oranges meant large houses that demanded considerable
care. A typical Hartford Road home in South Orange had four floors of fireplaces
to be tended, and nearly 100 windows to be washed. The estates needed care, and
the householders of the Oranges were at a loss to find capable domestic staff.
Their woes made The New York
Times, which made servants a regular feature of the women’s page. An 1896 advice column suggested that
the ideal servant “live in” the home. “The girl who ‘works out’ in her own town
will want to go home frequently – may have followers and a promiscuous list of
calling acquaintances,” warns the newspaper columnist.
The Orange school was
modeled on successful ventures in Boston. (More about those later.)
For now, this blog will share info and thoughts about what it meant to be a servant about a century ago, right down the street.
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