The servants practical guide : a handbook of duties and rules / By the author of "Manners and tone of good society".

Date:
[1880]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The servants practical guide : a handbook of duties and rules / By the author of "Manners and tone of good society". Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    by tho men-servants/ These women servants stand behind the buffet, and pour out the tea and coffee, and hand it across tho buffet when asked for. The only remark offered by the servants in attendance is, “ Tea or coffee, ma’am ? ” not “ Will you take tea or coffee, ma’am ? ” or “ Shall I give you some tea, ma’am ? ” A well-mannered servant merely says in a respectful tone of voice, “ Tea or coffee, ma’am ? ” When guests ask for tea or coffee, they generally say, “ Tea, please,” or “ Coffee, please,” or “ Will you give this lady some tea?” or “This lady will have some coffee.” If there were a crowd of guests around the buffet, the servant to whom the request was made would answer, “ Yes, sir,” to show that she had heard it and was attending to it. But if there was no doubt that she had heard the order, and which of the guests had given it, she would hand the tea or coffee across the buffet without remark. When ices are asked for, in answer to the words, “An ice, please,” she would say, “Strawberry or lemon, sir?” See work entitled “ The Cost of Entertainments.” If only one ice has been provided, the answer would be “ Yes, sir. To repeat the words of an order, unless a doubt exists as to its having been heard correctly, is ill- mannered on the part of a servant. The ices are not under the charge of the servants who pour out the tea, but under that of the still-room maid or cook, and are served from a side-table at the back of the buffet,