A maid, housemaid, or maidservant is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era, domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids are now typically only found in the wealthiest households. In other parts of the world (mainly within the continent of Asia), maids remain common in urban middle-class households.
Maid in Middle English meant an unmarried woman, especially a young one, or specifically a virgin. These meanings lived on in English until recent times (and are still familiar from literature and folk music), alongside the sense of the word as a type of servant.
The concept of maid has continued to evolve in pop culture, particularly anime and sci-fi, to encompass the ideas of social robot and virtual human servants.
Description
Maids perform typical domestic chores such as laundry, ironing, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, cooking, and caring for household pets. They may also take care of children, although there are more specific occupations for this, such as nanny. In some poor countries, maids take care of the elderly and people with disabilities. Many maids are required by their employers to wear a uniform.
In the contemporary Western world, comparatively few households can afford live-in domestic help, usually relying on cleaners, employed directly or through an agency (maid service). Many services historically provided by maids have been substituted with IoT devices coordinating with autonomous robots. For example: Amazon Dash and Roomba. While the domestic robot remains an emerging technology, advances in artificial intelligence have enabled robots to perform domestic work.
In less developed nations, various factors ensure a labor source for domestic work: very large differences in the income of urban and rural households, widespread poverty, fewer educated women, and limited opportunities for the employment of less educated women.
Legislation in many countries makes certain living conditions, working hours, or minimum wage a requirement of domestic service. Nonetheless, the work of a maid has always been hard, involving a full day, and extensive duties. Maids would be familiar with hard work and typically worked long hours in a week.
Types
Maids traditionally have a fixed position in the hierarchy of the large households, and although there is overlap between definitions (dependent on the size of the household) the positions themselves would typically be rigidly adhered to. The usual classifications of maid in a large household are:
- Lady's maid: a senior servant who reported directly to the lady of the house, but ranked beneath the housekeeper, and accompanied her lady on travel. She took care of her mistress's clothes and hair, and sometimes served as confidante.
- House-maid or housemaid: a generic term for maids whose function was chiefly "above stairs", and were usually a little older, and better paid. Where a household included multiple housemaids, the roles were often subdivided as below.
- Head house-maid: the senior house maid, reporting to the housekeeper. (Also called "house parlor maid" in an establishment with only one or two upstairs maids).
- Parlor maid: they cleaned and tidied reception rooms and living areas by morning, and often served refreshments at afternoon tea, and sometimes also dinner. They tidied studies and libraries, and (with footmen) answered bells calling for service.
- Chamber maid: they cleaned and maintained the bedrooms, ensured fires were lit in fireplaces, and supplied hot water.
- Laundry maid: they maintained bedding and towels. They also washed, dried, and ironed clothes for the whole household, including the servants.
- Under house parlor maid: the general deputy to the house parlor maid in a small establishment which had only two upstairs maids.
- Nursery maid: also an "upstairs maid", but one who worked in the children's nursery, maintaining fires, cleanliness, and good order. Reported to the nanny rather than the housekeeper. The nursemaid would often stay with one family for years or as long as their services were needed.
- Kitchen maid: a "below stairs" maid who reported to the cook, and assisted in running the kitchens.
- Head kitchen maid: where multiple kitchen maids were employed, the "head kitchen maid" was effectively a deputy to the cook, engaged largely in the plainer and simpler cooking (sometimes cooking the servants' meals).
- Under kitchen maid: where multiple kitchen maids were employed, these were the staff who prepared vegetables, peeled potatoes, and assisted in presentation of finished cooking for serving.
- Scullery maid: the lowest grade of "below stairs" maid, reporting to the cook, the scullery maids were responsible for washing cutlery, crockery, and glassware, and scrubbing kitchen floors, as well as monitoring ovens while kitchen maids ate their own supper.
- Between maid, sometimes known as a "tweeny": roughly equivalent in status to scullery maids, and often paid less, between maids in a large household waited on the senior servants (butler, housekeeper, and cook) and were therefore answerable to all three department heads, often leading to friction in their employment.
- Still room maid: a junior maid employed in the still room; as the work involved the supply of alcohol, cosmetics, medicines, and cooking ingredients across all departments of the house, the still room maids were part of the "between staff", jointly answerable to all three department heads.
In more modest households, a single maid-of-all-work or skivvy was often the only staff. It is possible this word originates from the Italian for slave ("schiavo"—"owned person").
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1/4-inch strips
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup sour cream
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add steak strips, onion, and garlic; cook 5 to 7 minutes or until steak is no longer pink, stirring frequently.
- Add flour and pepper; mix well. Add both soups and the mushrooms; mix well. Reduce heat to low and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, or until beef is tender.
- Just before serving, stir in sour cream and cook 2 to 4 more minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Serve immediately.
Throughout the history of the state, the blending of race and culture have resulted in the Delta’s own unique flair that brings visitors from around the world seeking to taste their food, hear their music and see their style.
When French explorers first arrived, several diverse tribes populated the area. Many of their population were decimated by disease and war. Natchez, Choctaw or Chitimacha descendants still survive today.
In 1803, Louisiana became territory when the United States completed negotiations with France for the 828,000 mile Louisiana Purchase. The first of 15 states to be carved out of the region, Louisianna entered the United States in 1812.
Within its mysterious gulf, Louisiana holds the secrets of pirates, conflicts of slavery and the paths of progress. The bayou teems with life and stories untold.
Louisiana epitomizes the phrase “melting pot” probably more than any other state. Throughout the history of the state, Native American, French, Spanish, German, African, Irish and Caribean cultures have blended in a variety of ways creating a diverse and distinct culture in the bayou. From the food to the language, the music and history, Cajun (French Canadian or Acadian), Creole (European, African, Caribbean or Spanish mixed ancestry) and even the landscape impact the enchantment that is Louisiana.
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