While it was certainly considered important for a servant to understand his or her duties, most of these articles aren't actually aimed at servants. They are aimed at mistresses! If a mistress didn't understand what her servants were supposed to do, what skills they should have, and how they should be trained, she couldn't be expected to manage them. If she couldn't manage the servants, her household was likely to be in a state of constant chaos. These articles help instruct the Victorian "housewife" on what to expect from servants, what to require from them, what wages to pay, how to hire them, how to assess their character, and more. They make it clear that "service" isn't just about being served; there are obligations on both sides!

Our Old Sally: A Portrait from Life (Leisure Hour, 1860)

A portrait of "a genuine specimen of the old servant genus."

Our Servants (Peterson's, 1866)

The Revolt in the Kitchen - A Lesson for Housekeepers, by Patience Price (Godey's, 1868)

A fictional account of the problem with servants - addressing the question of whether, perhaps, one might do better without them.

Good Cooking and How to Secure It (Peterson's, 1872)

An editorial on the problems of acquiring good "help."

How I Managed My Servants (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1875)

How I Engage My Servants (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

"Before any steps are taken to inquire into character, a definite understanding should be come to between the mistress and servant. On this careful and definite agreement, most of the future comfort of both depends."

Other People's Servants, by Olive Logan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

A commentary on how bad servants are "everywhere else," with servants in the US taking the "crown" for "insolence and inefficency."

The Average Servant (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

"Are not the too common faults of the average modern servant inefficiency and indifference? This inefficiency and indifference must arise from some distinct and tangible cause or causes. It is time, therefore, for thinking people to look the vexed servant question, which is one of growing importance, fairly and sternly in the face, and seek diligently for an explanation of the difficulty, with a view to the suggestion of some practical remedies."

Hints to Young Housekeepers: Servants, by Mrs. S.W. Oakey (Scribner's, 1879B)

The last four articles in this series deal with the roles and responsibilities of various types of servants, how to manage the servants, etc.

The Duties of Servants, by Sophia F.A. Caulfeild (Girl's Own Paper, 1881)

Part 1 offers a detailed explanation of the tasks expected of each type of servant in a household, as well as an overview of the wages to be paid to different types of servants. Part 2 examines the responsibilities of the mistress toward her servants as well as the tasks of the servants themselves.

A Letter from a Kitchen, by Jane Cooper (Girl's Own Paper, 1881)

This letter written to the editors of The Girl's Own Paper gives an interesting view of the lives of servants.

Servants and Household Economy (Century Magazine, 1882B)

Training children from "the poorest classes" in household economy, so that they might have a chance of getting jobs as servants.

The Legal Relations of Mistress and Servant (Century Magazine, 1883A)

Servants and Service, by Ruth Lamb (Girl's Own Paper, 1883, 1885)

The Law of Mistress and Servant (Girl's Own Paper, 1886)

The relationship between mistress and servant was one of mutual obligation, with specific rules and rights governing each.

Bunch, by Edward John Hardy (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

On the training of a servant.

Domestic Service in America (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Two prize papers on the "servant problem" in the US.

How to Wait at Table (Girl's Own Paper, 1887)

Homes with Two Servants (Demorest, 1889)

How to Manage the "Help."

The Mistresses' Union; Or, How We Solved the Servant Problem, by Henry Frith (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1890)

Servants, by the Hon. Maude Stanley (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

One can't have good servants if one doesn't know oneself how things are done, this author argues - and she wonders if today's woman is as knowledgeable about running a household as her grandmother would have been.

A Servant's Wedding Outfit, by Maude Robinson (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

The cost of putting together a complete trousseau for a servant.

Between Mistress and Maid (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

Several short articles on dealing with servants, including "The Evolution of the Hired Girl," "Who Are Our Best Servants?" (a look at nationalities), "Untruthfulness of Servants," and "Recommendation of Servants."

From a New Inkstand, by Robert Burdette (Ladies' Home Journal, 1892)

A look at servant issues and the servant’s bureau.

Our Friends the Servants, by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1893)

In Fear of the Servants (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

The Modern Servant Girl (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

"I do not want to complain of servants in general... it is against the raw, untried, unapprenticed article that I inveigh... They have been of all kinds: quick, slow, active, lazy, pleasant, sulky; but one and all incompetent to do the work they professed to do."

Do Servants Marry? (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

My Daily Round (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

The five top-winning essays in a competition for working girls, including entries from girls in domestic service, dressmaking, factory work, and farming.

A Young Servant's Outfit, and What to Buy for It (Girl's Own Paper, 1896)

Include a complete breakdown of costs.

Practical Points of Law, by A Lawyer

Includes Introduction, Dogs, Education, Fire Assurance, Property Fixtures, Life Assurance, Infants/Children, Servants, Swindles, Tenants, Travel, Wedlock, Wills, Popular Errors

Wages of Domestic Servants, by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1901)

How much do servants earn? How about servants under the age of 15?

Domestic Service for Gentlewomen

By the late 1880's and the 1890's, it was becoming acceptable for a "gentlewoman" to consider a job in "domestic service." One approach was to hire out as a "lady help" - a sort of lady's maid who, presumably, understood something about being a lady. Later articles pointed out that since women were expected to do various household work if they stayed home, why shouldn't they get paid for the same tasks?

Domestic Service for Gentlewomen, by R.M. Crawshay (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1876)

On the one hand, this author argues that "lady-helps" are an excellent form of employment for ladies in need of work; on the other hand, one wonders what they might actually do, since the author also notes that "I should be very sorry to hear of any lady engaging herself to scour floors, to black-lead grates, to clean pots and pans, to carry pails, water, or coal, or to varnish any shoes except her own..."

On Emigrating as Domestic Servants to New Zealand (Girl's Own Paper, 1885)

How to Secure a Situation, by Nora C. Usher (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

How to Keep a Situation, by Nora C. Usher (Girl's Own Paper, 1893)

Are Lady Helps a Success? Yes, by Edith Cuthell (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

Domestic Service as a Profession for Gentlewomen, by Alix Joson (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

"There is nothing lowering in domestic work unless we make it so."

Domestic Training Schools

My Experience at the National Training School of Cookery (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

Training Schools for Servants, by A.A. Strange Butson (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880)

Some Thoughts on Domestic Training for Girls (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883)

Ascension [Graduation] Day at St. John's Servants School, by Anne Beale (Girl's Own Paper, 1889)

"It is pretty to see the little regiment of domestic soldiers perform all the evolutions of Swedish drill, and if their industrial training be equal to their physical, they will make very good servants indeed."

Schools of Domestic Service, by D.K. Lees (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

Training Schools for Domestic Servants, by Carrie Niles Whitcomb (Century Magazine, 1896B)

On the perceived need to establish such schools, partly as a means of providing trade education for the poor.

Lady Cooks and Their Training (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)