Goings On Below Stairs
March 24, 2022 9:16 PM Subscribe
Goings On Below Stairs [30m] uses actual diaries of servants and household members to recount how people lived their lives in service when they were not actively serving. Wonderful, fascinating stuff.
OK, jokes aside, this was a really nice little glimpse into a very stratified society, and the rare kindnesses and frequent cruelties that go with that. I've toured a lot of historic houses over the years, mostly in North America, and the more honest tours admit that staff lived difficult lives, especially in places like Newport, RI, where the grand houses only had to be staffed for maybe half the year, and, therefore, staff were only paid for that.
The one exception was in Toronto, where one of the tours showed, not luxurious but comfortable quarters, and the explanation was most (white, European) immigrants weren't keen on service, since it was seen as a step back to the Old World, and servants were paid better and often saved to be able to open small businesses and get out, so servants were generally better treated as they had other options.
Keep that in mind the next time you listen to someone who longs for the Gilded Age's return....
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:18 PM on March 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
The one exception was in Toronto, where one of the tours showed, not luxurious but comfortable quarters, and the explanation was most (white, European) immigrants weren't keen on service, since it was seen as a step back to the Old World, and servants were paid better and often saved to be able to open small businesses and get out, so servants were generally better treated as they had other options.
Keep that in mind the next time you listen to someone who longs for the Gilded Age's return....
posted by GenjiandProust at 12:18 PM on March 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
This was in parts both hilarious and horrifying.
Thank you!
posted by doornoise at 12:20 PM on March 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Thank you!
posted by doornoise at 12:20 PM on March 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
I appreciated the glimpse into the past and I thought her actors did very well. Thanks!
posted by BlunderingArtist at 2:37 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BlunderingArtist at 2:37 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
That was as much fun as a Robert Altman film or a whole season of Downton Abbey!
And, pretty first-rate production values for a channel with only 300 subscribers.
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:33 PM on March 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
And, pretty first-rate production values for a channel with only 300 subscribers.
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:33 PM on March 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Downton Abbey is my falling-asleep viewing/listening, so this was very soothing for me, and I had no idea there were surviving diaries from the working classes from the early 1800s and such, so thanks for posting this! And yes, the voice actors were wonderful.
posted by cinnamonduff at 6:54 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by cinnamonduff at 6:54 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fascinating! I’m going to have to look up some of those diaries and memoirs; sounds like they’d be really interesting reading.
I loved how the phenomenon of maidservants falling for red-coated soldiers was called “Scarlet fever.”
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:35 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
I loved how the phenomenon of maidservants falling for red-coated soldiers was called “Scarlet fever.”
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:35 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, and extra props for that one reader who did it in costume!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:36 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:36 PM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
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posted by GenjiandProust at 11:24 AM on March 25, 2022