Note 353 — Chapter XVII · DOMESTIC SERVICE IN EUROPE

“I would not think of leaving less than two shillings with the housemaid when I have spent a night in a friend’s house.”—Englishwoman, Cambridge.

“I always leave five shillings with the servant when I spend Sunday with friends, and as she always seems glad to see me when I return I imagine it is enough.”—Englishwoman, London.

The traditional reply ascribed to Hanway (Bouniceau-Gesmon, p. 134) in declining an invitation from an English lord, “I am not rich enough to dine with you,” is typical of what one often hears in England.

“Vails to servants in households where a considerable number of visitors are entertained must be an important item in the real earnings of servants.”—Miss Collet, Report, p. 29.

An admirable discussion of the whole subject of fees paid by guests is given by W. J. Stillman in The Nation, October 11, 1900. See also The Nation, November 8, 1900. Mr. Albert Matthews in The Nation, December 13, 1900, cites an extract from the London Chronicle that shows that the custom dates back certainly as far as 1765.

Babeau, pp. 301-302, discusses the abuses of the custom in France, though they are less there than in Italy, and especially in England “where one cannot go out to dine without encountering, on leaving, all the servants drawn up in line and holding out their hands.”