A BACHELOR'S SERVANTS.
As soon as a bachelor begins to branch out a little and to have an
apartment or a house or a country establishment, though the latter be
only a fishing or a hunting box, he must hire servants. The general
servant is perhaps the one most universally employed. Many bachelors
hire some middle-aged woman who not only does the cooking, but takes
care of the apartment, valets him, and waits at table when he has guests
to dinner. Others employ a man to look after them, who is valet and
general _factotum_, and others again, with larger establishments, a man
and wife. The former does the valeting, the waiting, and is steward and
butler, while the woman attends to the cooking and laundry. There are
quite a number of bachelor households of this description in our large
cities, the occupants being several in number and clubbing together. One
is appointed treasurer, and the butler and cook are hired at a stated
price and receive a certain sum for catering. When good servants of this
kind are found they are treasures.
All menservants should be clean shaven. A short bit of side whiskers--_a
la_ mutton chop--is allowed; but under no circumstances should they have
bearded faces or wear a mustache. Their linen and attire should be
faultless. In the treatment of servants a man must exercise an iron
will. He can be kind and considerate, but he must never descend to
dispute with one, and certainly not swear at him. To be on familiar
terms with one's servants shows the cloven foot of vulgarity. Discharge
a servant at once when he is disrespectful or when he is careless in his
duties or in his conduct. When asking for anything there is no necessity
of forgetting the elements of true politeness, nor is it a blot on your
deportment to utter a civil "thank you" for a service performed. All
servants should address you as "Sir," and when called should reply "Yes,
sir," and certainly not "All right." Your menservants touch their hats
to you on receiving orders in the open, on being addressed, and upon
your appearance. Encourage your servants now and then by a kind word,
and see that they have good and wholesome food, clean and comfortable
quarters. Once in a while give them a holiday, or an evening off, a cash
remembrance at Christmas, and from time to time some part of your
wardrobe or cast-off clothing. They are just like children, and must be
treated with the rigor and mild discipline which a schoolmaster uses
toward his pupils. In all their movements they should be noiseless and
as automatic as possible in their actions.
And now for particular servants hired by a bachelor:
The _groom_ is, with the exception of the general servant, the first
domestic likely to be in the employ of an unmarried man of moderate
means. When a bachelor becomes a horse owner he can never be too
particular about his turnouts and his liveries. The groom in the city or
at a fashionable watering place should have two liveries--one for dress
occasions and the other for what is known as a "stable suit." The
latter, which is a simple English tweed or whipcord, made with a cutaway
coat of the same material, will answer perfectly well for the country,
where it is ridiculous to have elaborate liveries. A square brown Derby
is worn with this suit, brown English driving gloves, and a white
plastron or coachman's scarf. This flat scarf is the badge of
distinction between the house and stable servant. No tie pin nor
trinkets of any description should be allowed servants. The best dress
livery is a frock coat, single-breasted, of kersey, the color of your
livery; white buckskin riding breeches, top boots, top hat, white
plastron, standing collar, and brown driving gloves. One distinctive
color should be used, not only for your liveries but also for your
traps, as well as one kind of harness. The cockade on the hat is the
privilege abroad of ambassadors; it is bad form. Besides the care of
your horse or horses, your groom must be a species of outside general
servant, ready to go on errands or attend to the numerous duties of a
manservant about a country place. By no means can he be substituted for
a valet, a butler, or an indoor servant. When he brings your trap to the
door he holds the animals' heads until you are seated, when he touches
his hat and lets go the reins. If he is to sit behind in the trap he
must hold himself upright with folded arms. He alights immediately the
trap is stopped, running all errands, and holding the horses until the
drive is resumed. He sometimes accompanies his master when the latter
rides. He brings his horse to the door and holds it until the mount. He
follows, occasionally, on another horse at a respectful distance. Should
you be wealthy enough to have also a coachman, your groom can act as
second man on the box. A coachman's dress livery consists of a
double-breasted long coachman's coat, top boots, and buckskin breeches,
white flat plastron, high collar and top hat, and brown driving gloves.
When both servants are employed the groom is under the orders of the
coachman as regards the stable work.
_The Valet._--Of course a valet is a luxury. A man can valet himself
very easily, and if the instructions given in the chapters on the Care
of Clothes and The Toilet are followed carefully, I hardly think that
you would need such a personage. A woman can be perfectly trained to
valet a man. Your general servant can also, and is required to fill this
position. If you live at a club the club valet will attend to your
clothes, and perform the duties of a private servant. There are
"valeting companies" organized in many large cities, which take entire
charge of your wardrobe, and again there are valets who are hired by
several men clubbing together, and who are very capable servants. The
individual valet, however, is a very valuable aid to a young bachelor of
wealth, especially if he is a man of leisure, or if he goes out a great
deal in society. A valet's duties are first and principally the entire
charge of his master's wardrobe and toilet, the details of which have
been given in previous chapters. They begin an hour or so before the
master rises, when clothes are to be pressed and put in order, boots and
shoes to be polished and placed on their trees, and the costume of the
day to be made ready. If possible, a small room is provided for him as
his workshop.
At the hour for rising, the valet enters his master's room very quietly,
and, if he is awake, pulls up the shades and lets in the daylight. The
bath is then prepared, and while that is being taken the newspapers,
mail, and breakfast tray are brought in, and the valet waits for orders.
Some men require their valets to shave them, but the majority simply
intrust the care of their razors to them, preferring to perform that
operation themselves. The valet assists his master in dressing, and,
when the toilet is finished, ties or buttons the boots, arranges the
spats, and gives a final brush to the clothes. He then fetches the
stick, gloves, and hat. During the day he may be employed on errands,
in answering tradespeople, in paying bills, or in any minor occupations
of that kind. A first-class servant of this character should not only be
steward but secretary. When writing letters for his master he should
write them in the third person, and also sign them "Respectfully yours,
JOHN SMITH, _valet_."
A valet is told of the engagements of the day, and has the clothes
arranged accordingly, and he must be at his post. In the evening the
dress suit is laid out, with choice of ties and two coats, the formal
and informal, or Tuxedo. A valet must be at the rooms when his master
retires. In traveling he takes care of the luggage, tickets, and all the
little annoying details. He travels second class abroad, and in this
country he should never be allowed to be a passenger in a drawing-room
car with his master. The valet wears no livery. He dresses quietly in a
plain sack suit of dark material, and wears a Derby hat. Should he be
required to wait on table, he dresses in semi-livery if the affair is a
luncheon, and in evening dress if it is a dinner.
The _butler_ is a very rare functionary in a bachelor's establishment,
only the wealthiest being able to afford him. The valet or general
servant acts as butler, and when in this position he should always have
a black coat on when answering the bell.
I have used the terms throughout this chapter of "master" and "servant."
Employer and employee are correct only when the relations between the
two persons are not of a domestic character.
The most fashionable and efficient menservants are of English, Scotch,
or Irish birth or descent. Japanese make excellent valets. Colored
coachmen and grooms are not the vogue in New York or vicinity, but they
are seen in the South. Very wealthy bachelors have introduced a fad for
East Indian servants, but at present only a few of these have been
employed, and those at Newport.