Study Three

These servants also had personalities of their own. Most were happy and content to work in Service, perhaps not even thinking of doing anything else. There were a few, though, who wanted to do something different and Service was a stepping-stone, where they could gain experience of work and save a little money. For example, in one of the episodes, one of the housemaids took a 'correspondence' course in typing and shorthand because she wanted to become a secretary. This little maid was quite determined and worked very hard in her spare time. It looks strange to us today but back then, this seemed a completely mad thing to do because "being in Service" was such reliable employment. The maid felt that she had to 'hide' what she was doing, even though, even by the standards back then, she was actually doing nothing wrong. Watching the episode where all of this comes to the butler's (Mr.Carsons) attention is a little beyond my understanding. They thought this so 'wrong' that some of the other servants treated the little maid like a thief --- even though the poor girl was just wanting to 'move on' to a different job. This shows how different the thinking and mentality was back then.