Note 354 — Chapter XVII · DOMESTIC SERVICE IN EUROPE
Reading edition
“It is very stupid, but it is generally done.”—German housekeeper, Dresden.
“The cook makes about three marks a month in this way.”—German housekeeper, Berlin.
“The ‘sou in the franc’ that certain tradesmen agree to give servants is not only tolerated, but it is recognized as a right.”—M. G. Salomon, p. 549.
“In the expression ‘theft’ we do not hesitate to include the ‘dancing of the basket’; the ‘sou in the franc’ given by some dealers does not constitute an act of disloyalty on the part of the domestic. It is for the master, if he would escape this tax, to levy it on the tradesmen less clever in advertising, unless he is very sure that the merchant makes the servant this allowance out of his profits alone.”—Weber, p. 47.
“In fact, the part taken by our servants in the purchase and use of almost all articles of consumption makes a necessary increase in the wages paid. Thus even before coming to the kitchen, provisions undergo an increase in cost from the fact that they are bought by the mercenary person who attends to the marketing; this does not include customary augmentations, the sou per pound or the sou in the franc, said to be met by the merchant, and certain others which, on account of their constant increase, deserve special mention.”—Bienaymé, pp. 366-367.
“What is done by these servants hired for a limited time? They go to the merchant and impose upon him the law of division of profits. The merchant raises the price, and the stranger buys the article for more than it should cost. These servants even levy a tax upon the eating-house keeper; the livery-stable keeper is obliged to pay them as much as twenty sous a day; these profits have become customary.”—Mercier, V., 156.
Bouniceau-Gesmon, pp. 107-113, cites from an unnamed English author a long account of similar practices in England.
“My cook always gets three lire from the butcher and three from the grocer at Christmas.”—Italian housekeeper.