Domestic service

by Lucy Maynard Salmon

The trend in this direction can be seen in many ways. The growing prevalence of camping has increased the demand for articles of food ready for use, and even tea, coffee, and soups are delivered hot for the benefit of pleasure seekers.[304] The development of Western resources by Eastern capitalists has also increased the demand for such articles, and at least one housekeeper among the Black Hills of South Dakota, one hundred miles from a railroad station, speaks casually of doing her marketing in Chicago, and a housekeeper in North Carolina gives frequent and elaborate lunches through caterers in Philadelphia. The tendency even among persons of moderate means is more and more towards the employment of caterers for special afternoon and evening entertainments, although in villages and small towns this course as yet involves the employment of persons from large cities. The practice is not uncommon for the women connected with church organizations to hold every Saturday afternoon sales for the benefit of the society, of all articles of food that can be prepared the previous day for Sunday dinners and teas.[305]

The most important medium for the sale of such commodities is the Woman’s Exchange.[306] It has already become an economic factor of some little importance, and it will become of still greater importance when it is taken out of the domain of charity and sentiment and becomes self-supporting on a business basis. One of its most valuable results is that it has set a high standard for work and has insisted that this standard be reached by every consignor, not only once or generally, but invariably. It has maintained this standard in the face of hostile criticism and the feeling that a charitable organization ought to accept poor work if those presenting it are in need of money. It has shown that success in work cannot be attained by a simple desire for it or need of it pecuniarily. It has taught that accuracy, scientific knowledge, artistic training, habits of observation, good judgment, courage, and perseverance are better staffs in reaching success than reliance upon haphazard methods and the compliments of flattering friends. It has raised the standard of decorative and artistic needle work by incorporating into its rules a refusal to accept calico patchwork, wax, leather, hair, feather, rice, splatter, splinter, and cardboard work. It has taught many women that a model recipe for cake is not “A few eggs, a little milk, a lump of butter, a pinch of salt, sweetening to taste, flour enough to thicken; give a good beating and bake according to judgment.”

But still more it has opened up to women what has been practically a new occupation. Domestic work within the house performed by members of the family without fixed compensation and by those not members of the family with compensation had been the previous rule. The Exchange has shown that it is possible for the women of a family to prepare within the house for sale outside many articles for table consumption, both those of necessity and luxury. Innumerable instances are on record of women who within the past fifteen years have supported themselves wholly or in part by making for general sale or on orders different articles for the table.[307]

It seems inevitable that eventually all articles of food will be prepared out of the house except those requiring the last application of heat, and that scientific skill will reduce to a minimum the labor and expense of this final stage of preparation. This change is in direct line with the tendency towards specialization everywhere else found in that it thus becomes possible for every person to do exclusively that thing which he or she can do best; it allows the concentration of labor and capital and thus by economizing both secures the largest results; it permits many women to retain their home life and at the same time engage in remunerative business; it improves the quality of all articles consumed, since they are produced under the most favorable conditions; it brings the work of every cook into competition with the work of every other cook by providing a standard of measurement now lacking and thus inciting improvement; it is the application of the principle of unconscious co-operation and therefore in harmony with other business activities. More definitely, as one illustration, it permits all fruits to be canned, pickled, and preserved in every way in the locality where they are produced at a cost ultimately less than can now be done when fruit is shipped to cities and there sold at prices including high rents; it prevents a glut in the market of such perishable articles by providing for their preservation on farms and in villages and subsequent transportation to cities at leisure; it makes it possible to utilize many abandoned farms in the East which could be used as fruit farms but are too remote from shipping centres to permit the transportation of ripe fruit; it ultimately lightens the labors of many women on farms by enabling them to purchase in cities many articles now produced by them at a disadvantage. The canning in cities, by individual families, of fruits, often in an over-ripe condition, is as anomalous as would be to-day the making of dairy products in city homes. The preservation of fruit is but one example of articles that could be prepared better and more cheaply in the country than in the city. Miscellaneous articles of every description, as plum-pudding, boned turkey, chicken broth, jelly, croquettes and salad, minced meat, pressed veal, bouillon, calf’s-foot jelly, pure fruit juices, blackberry cordial, and a score of other articles, could be added to the list.

It is sometimes objected that this plan of taking out of the house to as great an extent as possible all forms of cooking lessens the individuality of the home by requiring all persons to have the same articles of food. But the objection presupposes a limited variety of articles, while the method suggested must result in an unlimited variety, as has been the case in regard to articles used for wearing apparel since the custom has been established of having so many made out of the house. It presupposes also that individuality depends on externals. The gentleman who wishes to preserve his individuality through his cook could also preserve it through employing a private tailor, but he gladly sacrifices it in the latter case for the better work of one who serves a hundred other customers as well. Individuality is preserved when a person builds his own house, but the doubtful benefit of the result is suggested by Oliver Wendell Holmes when he says, “probably it is better to be built in that way than not to be built at all.” The individuality of the present generation is certainly not less than that of the preceding one when all clothing worn by a family was made up in the house, or of an earlier one when all cloth was spun and woven, as well as made up, in the house, or of a still more remote one when our ancestors troubled themselves comparatively little about either the weaving or the making. The very perfection of the principle of the division of labor makes possible the expression of the greatest individuality in that it offers the possibility of selection from a hundred varieties whereas before no choice was given. The ability to choose between the work of a hundred cooks permits a truer individuality than does the command of the services of but one. Whims, caprices, and eccentricities sometimes masquerade as individuality and are not always entitled to respect.

Another form of work now done in the house that could be done outside is laundry work. The inconveniences resulting from the derangement of the household machinery according to the present method have formed the theme of many jests; a serious consideration of the subject must lead to the conclusion that this system results in great waste as well as in unnecessary wear and tear of the household machinery. An objection on hygienic grounds is sometimes made to the proposal to have articles of clothing laundered out of the house together with articles sent by other families. But science has already accomplished much at the bidding of business enterprise, and this objection can be overcome. Even as it is the question may well be asked whether the price paid is not a heavy one for individual laundresses. The vast army of persons who board are compelled to send out articles to be laundried, and this is apparently done without serious results. A beginning has been made in many families where a competent laundress cannot be secured by sending to public laundries all starched clothing, especially all collars and cuffs. The laundries of Troy, New York, have branches for the reception and delivery of goods in all parts of the country, and laundry many articles better and more cheaply than can be done at home. The amount of space now occupied in cities for laundering purposes that could be used for business or for homes is far from inconsiderable. It seems not altogether unreasonable to believe that if the space now occupied by laundries in individual homes could be used for other purposes rents would be perceptibly lower. On economic grounds alone this generation should relegate the washing machine and the wringer to the attic or the front parlor, where it has already placed the spinning wheel of its ancestors.

Still another field is open for business enterprise in connection with the household. A very large part of the work connected with it concerns the care of the house and grounds. This includes the semi-annual housecleaning and the cleaning of windows, floors, brass, silver, and lamps; the sweeping, dusting, and general care of rooms, including the special attention that must be given to books, pictures, and bric-à-brac; the care of lawns, walks, porches, and furnaces; the repairing of articles of clothing and furniture; table service and chamber service. Here again economic tendencies are showing themselves. Much if not all of this work can be done by the piece or by the hour, and men and women are everywhere taking advantage of the fact.[308] A very large part of the work of the household can be thus done, especially if housekeepers are willing to waive the tradition that silver must be cleaned on Thursdays, sweeping done on Fridays, and all sleeping-rooms put in order before nine o’clock in the morning.

One other measure of relief concerns the purchase of supplies. Marketing is a science and might be made a profession. At present it is usually done in a haphazard, make-shift fashion. It is done by the head of the household on his way to business and thus done in haste; or orders are given through a clerk who goes from house to house and thus serves primarily the firm he represents, while at the same time the purchaser loses the benefit of competition in the markets; or commissions are given by telephone and the customer has no opportunity of inspecting the goods before purchase; or marketing is done by the mistress of the household, who is unable to reach the markets in time to make her purchases with the care that should be given; or it is done by the cook, who may know the best articles to purchase but is ignorant of their money value. It requires time, skill, and experience to purchase judiciously the supplies for a household, and in many households time, skill, and experience are lacking. It would seem possible for one person to do the marketing for fifteen or twenty families, taking the orders at night and executing them in the morning. Supplies could then be purchased in quantity, this gain would pay the commission of the purchaser, and marketing would be done in a much more satisfactory manner than it is at the present time. At the same time such a plan would relieve the members of individual households of the burden and care of a difficult part of household management.

All of these measures suggested must tend ultimately to take as far as possible the domestic employee out of the house, letting her perform her work through the operation of unconscious business co-operation. This method would enable a large number of women to go into household employments who have ability in this direction but who now drift into other occupations which permit them to maintain their own home life. It is generally assumed that an unmarried woman has no desire for a home and no need of a place that she can call her own. When she goes into domestic employment, therefore, she must merge her individual life into that of her employer and relinquish all the social instincts, although as strong in her as in another. But this is what many are not willing to do. If the opportunity were presented of performing housework and remaining at home, large numbers would in time enter the work. Many who have no homes would still be glad to share the home of an employer, but where no alternative is presented, as under the present system, except where negroes are employed, the requirement of residence becomes irksome and is a hindrance in this as it would be in any other industry. It is also true that many employees particularly dislike to live in flats. The sleeping accommodations are generally poor, with little light or ventilation, and all parts of the household are cramped and crowded. To take the employee out of the modern flat and let her go to her own home or lodging place would be a boon to both employer and employee. The plan proposed also lessens materially the amount of care and responsibility now incurred by the employer, since it decreases the number of personal employees. The presence of the employee in the family is a disadvantage to the household of the employer as well as to the employee. Again, it enables large numbers of women who have only a few hours each day or week to give to outside work to do it in their own houses or in the homes of others without neglect of their own households. Moreover, it lessens much of the difficulty that now exists owing to the migratory habits of the modern family. The question of what shall be done with the employees of a household during the summer and how new ones shall be secured in the autumn is answered in a measure if the work performed by them can be done by the piece, hour, or season and a large part of the family supplies can be purchased ready for use. Then, too, it renders both employer and employee more independent. Whether the desire for independence is right or wrong is not the question—it is a condition and must be met.