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Post by smokey2471 on Aug 28, 2014 0:43:19 GMT
People don't tend to have these anymore. I'm not talking about super rich people either. We were just middle class folks growing up. We had a nice house and all but we were certainly not wealthy by any means. My mom didn't work until I was in middle but growing up we had a housekeeper. I loved her. Her name was Ms. Pearl and she was at our house 4 days a week and at Grandmas 1. Lord that woman could cook! She eventually had to retire due to old age and arthritis. I found out years later that my dad bought her house when the bank was going to take it and allowed her to live there for free until she died. I only found out when he was selling it years later. My mom said he also paid her a "retirement" until the day she died. She had never married and had no children. She had worked for my Grandmother since the 60's and when my Grandmother moved to a small condo and only needed her 1 day a week she started coming to our house.
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Post by polz on Aug 28, 2014 0:55:16 GMT
In New Zealand, this makes you rich. I had a friend from India who had two live in servants. One was called her Ayah I think. She didn't think she was rich either. She was. It's really nice that your family was able to take care of MS Pearl when she retired.
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Post by lesleyanne on Aug 28, 2014 1:20:18 GMT
My DH is a full-time chef and house manager for a family. They also have an almost-full time maid. Crazy, huh? Oh, to have that kind of money.
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NoWomanNoCry
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,856
Jun 25, 2014 21:53:42 GMT
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Post by NoWomanNoCry on Aug 28, 2014 1:28:41 GMT
In my world you need money for that! Lol I just want to say I think it's awesome your family helped Ms. Pearl out. I'm betting she was forever grateful.
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Post by smokey2471 on Aug 28, 2014 1:42:19 GMT
In my world you need money for that! Lol I just want to say I think it's awesome your family helped Ms. Pearl out. I'm betting she was forever grateful. She was like a grandmother to me. I was in my teens when she retired. She had one sister and a few nieces and nephews but very little family. I would go visit her and my mom would go pick her up sometimes on Sundays after church to hang out with us. She was very active at her church and when she died everyone told my mom how much she spoke of us and that her Sunday school class said she prayed for us every week in SS. We never had a housekeeper after that. Even though we had a housekeeper my mom was adamant that we still do chores. I had to clean my own room and do dinner dishes and such. Before she retired my mom had me and my brothers vacuum and stuff to lighten her load. I miss her.
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scrappinghappy
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Jun 26, 2014 19:30:06 GMT
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Post by scrappinghappy on Aug 28, 2014 1:42:17 GMT
I grew up in South Africa. We had 2 live-ons. Most white people did because these poor people had no other way to earn money due to a lack of education. Bendy worked for my parents for 35 years, she was our nanny, housekeeper, cook and practically brought my siblings and me up. The gentleman (and he was most definitely one) worked as our butler but loved to take care of the garden so did that too with my mom who loved to garden as well. Marc came from Rhodesia, where his family lived, and my parents paid for him to go home every year or it would not have been affordable for him to do so as he sent his entire paycheck home every month. 10 months later there would be a new baby and he'd go back home to see it. He had 15 or 16 kids with two wives. Bendy and Marc lived in a guest house on our property which was much better living arrangements than most others had. My parents were very liberal and anti-apartheid and paid a living wage. They also set up retirement accounts for both of them - virtually unheard of in the day. They cried when my parents decided to move to assisted living and told them they were retiring with a pension. Marc visited my parents weekly while they lived there but they lost contact with Bendy. She went back to her family home in a rural area and had no access to a telephone, never mind internet. Her daughter who became a high school principal visited my parents and always said how grateful their family was to have had ours in their lives. Makes you really think, that.
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Post by ~summer~ on Aug 28, 2014 2:13:46 GMT
No but my grandma did. She had a full time housekeeper. Even after she retired my grandmother continued to pay her a weekly stipend to help support her.
And get this -- they also had someone who *ironed* full time. Back then I think even sheets and t-shirts were ironed. I would say they had money but they weren't rich rich.
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Deleted
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Oct 11, 2024 0:23:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2014 2:48:11 GMT
I know my grandparents had one when my dad and siblings were children. And no they weren't rich, it was common during that time and they were solidly middle class. My dad talks fondly of her.
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anniebygaslight
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Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Aug 28, 2014 6:19:01 GMT
You would have to be rich in the UK to afford this.
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Post by JoP on Aug 28, 2014 6:22:06 GMT
You would have to be rich in the UK to afford this. ^^^^ This
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Post by ExpatBackHome on Aug 28, 2014 6:39:07 GMT
In the US, no. In India we had a full time maid. Here in Poland we have a maid come 2 times a week for 6 hours each time.
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Post by Jockscrap on Aug 28, 2014 7:24:45 GMT
You would have to be rich in the UK to afford this. ^^^^ This Now, yes, you would have to be rich, although having a full time au pair might be the closest to it these days and would be just about affordable for a professional couple who both work, but back in the fifties and sixties I don't think it was uncommon for middle class families to have full time help in the home. My DH's grandparents owned a pharmacy, and had a full time maid. Their home had an annexe - the maid's quarters. I can remember my dad telling me that it was fairly common for the local bank managers to have a full time housekeeper. So whilst I think you would have had to be comfortably well off with a good professional salary to afford a full time housekeeper, I don't think it was the preserve of the upper classes and the fabulously wealthy.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Aug 28, 2014 8:46:06 GMT
We had someone half time when we lived in Cayman. She cleaned, ironed, and looked after my daughter she worked from like 2 to 6 every day. I know a lot of people there who have full time help. Usually they are called "helpers" so they do cleaning and looking after children, sometimes they also cook, run errands etc.
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Deleted
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Oct 11, 2024 0:23:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2014 10:56:09 GMT
Here in Tokyo many expats have live in helpers/nannies/maids. Expat housing and utilities are often paid by the company so people have money to spare so to speak. They're mostly Filipino ladies who send most of their paycheck home to their kids and families. I've met three who are qualified science teachers, but work as helpers! Almost every expat in Hong Kong has a live in maid and they pay them next to nothing. One woman I spoke to makes her helper work from 5a.m. til midnight, 6 days a week. Sounds like slave labor to me
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Post by kellapea on Aug 28, 2014 11:08:10 GMT
When I lived in El Paso, Texas (on the boarder of Juarez, Mexico) a lot of the houses were built with "maid's rooms". Many families have a maid who live with them Monday-Friday.
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Post by peano on Aug 28, 2014 12:12:57 GMT
When I was growing up we had Rosemary who started out as my grandmother's housekeeper but came to work for us after I was born.
She did housework but my mother did the cooking. She was with us until my parents divorced. I could really relate to the story in The Help because it was a very similar situation and my brother and I were very attached to her. However the building of the separate bathroom in that story was weird...and horrible. We didn't do that.
One of the most joyful moments of my life was taking my infant son home to Arkansas and seeing her holding him in the gentle way she used to hold me.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Aug 28, 2014 12:23:26 GMT
When I was little, we had a Chinese lady for the first two years of my life. She was known as Aunt Gwen. She and my mother became good friends and our families have always stayed in touch. They talk on the phone a few times a year. She and I still send Christmas cards to one another every year.
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Deleted
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Oct 11, 2024 0:23:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2014 13:25:39 GMT
Yes I am talking about the 50s-60s. Many people had full time housekeepers and they were not rich. Trust me my grandparents were not rich lol.
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Post by BoilerUp! on Aug 28, 2014 13:47:04 GMT
When I was growing up we had Rosemary who started out as my grandmother's housekeeper but came to work for us after I was born. She did housework but my mother did the cooking. She was with us until my parents divorced. I could really relate to the story in The Help because it was a very similar situation and my brother and I were very attached to her. However the building of the separate bathroom in that story was weird...and horrible. We didn't do that. One of the most joyful moments of my life was taking my infant son home to Arkansas and seeing her holding him in the gentle way she used to hold me. This is very sweet, brought tears to my eyes.
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caro
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Post by caro on Aug 28, 2014 14:03:44 GMT
We had a lady come once a week to help clean but my DH's family had Oralee to cook and a maid to clean.
Oralee came in the morning, cooked breakfast for the family. Then she went to the market to buy the food for lunch, the big meal. She left after lunch clean up. She did this 6 days a week. DH's family also took care of Oralee after she "retired " from cooking. She was a sweet lady.
My DH's grandparents grew up with servants and they weren't considered rich. It was always interesting to hear DH's grandmother tell her stories of life growing up with " the help ". They were great stories and just the way of life for her family.
Even though they didn't think they were wealthy they really were by my standards.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 28, 2014 14:08:33 GMT
In my world you need money for that! Lol I just want to say I think it's awesome your family helped Ms. Pearl out. I'm betting she was forever grateful. Seriously, in my world too! Middle class does not equate enough money to pay to have a full time housekeeper.
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Deleted
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Oct 11, 2024 0:23:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2014 14:28:03 GMT
In my world you need money for that! Lol I just want to say I think it's awesome your family helped Ms. Pearl out. I'm betting she was forever grateful. Seriously, in my world too! Middle class does not equate enough money to pay to have a full time housekeeper. It did in the 50s and 60s though. That's what almost all of us are talking about.
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Post by whipea on Aug 28, 2014 14:56:28 GMT
In the 50's and 60's we had a full time housekeeper, Lucy. Both my parents worked and she came 5 days a week and sometimes helped with the holidays and parties. My parents always invited her family on the holidays so they would not miss her. They also invited her grandchildren to come over when she needed to watch them for her children. I remember when I was about 9 I taught her 6 year old grandson to swim. She was a wonderful person and I miss her.
I had a very wealthy great Aunt who had a live-in housekeeper for many years and was very close to her. When she died, she left the house to her housekeeper. I thought that was so cool.
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Post by kckckc on Aug 28, 2014 15:05:38 GMT
Seriously, in my world too! Middle class does not equate enough money to pay to have a full time housekeeper. It did in the 50s and 60s though. That's what almost all of us are talking about. I grew up in the 50s/60s and didn't know anyone who had a full time housekeeper. I thought we were middle class - maybe we were poorer than I thought. ETA: I grew up in Southern Missouri - as others have posted, maybe it was a regional thing.
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Post by Miss Ang on Aug 28, 2014 15:10:24 GMT
I grew up in a middle class family. I am now the adult in a middle class family.
I'm not criticizing that you had a full time house keeper, I just want to point out that a middle class family can not afford a full time housekeeper or afford to purchase a home for another person. I think it's awesome that your dad was able to and actually did help this woman. That is awesome.
It's just not what I consider middle class. And if it is, well, I guess we're just poor.
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freebird
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Post by freebird on Aug 28, 2014 15:13:23 GMT
Growing up, I didn't even know anyone that had a cleaning lady. I grew up in rural Iowa.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 28, 2014 15:21:32 GMT
Seriously, in my world too! Middle class does not equate enough money to pay to have a full time housekeeper. It did in the 50s and 60s though. That's what almost all of us are talking about. Oh, okay.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 28, 2014 15:23:53 GMT
I grew up in a middle class family. I am now the adult in a middle class family. I'm not criticizing that you had a full time house keeper, I just want to point out that a middle class family can not afford a full time housekeeper or afford to purchase a home for another person. I think it's awesome that your dad was able to and actually did help this woman. That is awesome. It's just not what I consider middle class. And if it is, well, I guess we're just poor. See, now that's what I was thinking too! To me, middle class is not desperately poor, not starving, able to have pretty much all of what you need, and even some of what you want.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Aug 28, 2014 15:29:25 GMT
Even in the 50s and 60s it was extremely regional. I know many in the south had housekeepers. It was much, much less common in other parts of the country. For the middle class to afford a housekeeper, you need a large pool of very low income working class. If you have a large pool of economically disadvantaged people with few other opportunities you'll find the middle class with maids and drivers.
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oldcrow
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Post by oldcrow on Aug 28, 2014 15:31:32 GMT
It did in the 50s and 60s though. That's what almost all of us are talking about. I was grew up in the 50s/60s and didn't know anyone who had a full time housekeeper. I thought we were middle class - maybe we were poorer than I thought.
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