Butler/Citable Version

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The butler is a senior servant in a large household. In modern usage, the butler is in charge of food service, is the custodian of wine, liquor and silver and supervises other servants. The position has existed for centuries. Usually the butler is the most senior staff member, although this has evolved over time. Even today in the grandest homes or especially where the employer owns more than one residence, there is sometimes an Estate Manager over the butler.

In modern houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as Majordomo, Butler Administrator, Staff Manager, and Head of Household Staff may be used.

In the great houses of the past, the household was generally divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room (including the wine cellar) and pantry, and sometimes the entire parlour floor, and a housekeeper who was in charge of the whole house and its appearance.[1] Housekeepers are occasionally portrayed in literature as being the most senior staff member and as even making recommendations for the hiring of the butler.[2]

Origin and development of the post of butler

Servants attending casks on their supports, 18th Egyptian Dynasty, c. 1450 BC. Template:Photo

The word "butler" derives from the Middle English word buteler, from Old French bouteillier (“bottle bearer"), from buteille ("bottle"), and before that from Middle Latin butticula.[3] "Butticula", in turn, is from the Latin word buttis, a large cask, and came down to English as "butt".[4]

The modern word "butler" thus relates both to bottles, and casks. Naturally, from ancient through medieval times, alcoholic beverages would have been stored in earthenware vessels and wooden barrels rather than glass bottles, and this may have been a significant portion of an ancient household's assets.[5] The role of the butler has apparently developed out of the functions of one of the stewards of a household: the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other stored beverages. “Steward” came to mean the person in overall charge of the estate; he managed household accounts and collected estate rents.

The story of Joseph in the biblical book of Genesis contains an early reference to those in the role of butlers and stewards. Joseph, sold as a slave in Egypt, rises to become the head of Potiphar’s household staff, his chief steward, while the Pharaoh’s servant whose dream Joseph interprets has been translated into English as the chief butler.[6]

Centuries later, the European butler emerged as a middle-ranking member of the staff of a great house. This man was in charge of the buttery, which had nothing to do with butter, but related instead to butts, or casks. The buttery was originally a storeroom for liquor, but later the term did come to mean a general storeroom or pantry, probably because the original meaning was lost and in common parlance the word was assumed to relate to butter and other foodstuffs. The butler gradually became the senior male member of a household's staff, although in the very grandest households there was sometimes a house steward senior to the butler, or at the very least the aforementioned Estate Steward.[7] These titles persisted well into the 19th century, and, although their frequency of occurrence waxed and waned with societal changes, particularly with respect to the relative numbers of households of grand wealth, the positions have all survived into the 21st Century.

Responsibility and influence

In a large house, the butler (center-left) is traditionally head over all of the household servants. This is the servant staff at the Stonehouse Hill of Massachusetts, the estate of F. Lothrop Ames, 1914. Template:Photo

Traditionally, the butler was hired by the master of the house but usually reported to the lady of the house. In the largest of households, the butler was head of a strict service hierarchy and held a position of power and respect. Such butlers engaged and directed all junior staff. Butlers were addressed by last name by their employers, their employers’ children and guests, but as "Mr. [Surname]" by fellow servants, retainers and tradespersons. These butlers were more managerial than “hands on”; they officiated in service rather than actually serving, for example, the butler was at the door to greet and announce the arrival of a formal guest, the door was actually opened by a footman, who would receive that guest's coat and hat. The butler helped his employer into his coat, which had been handed to the butler by a footman.[8] This notwithstanding, even the highest-ranking butler would “pitch in” when necessary (as during a staff shortage) to ensure that the household ran smoothly.

The butler engaged the footmen and assigned their duties. Footmen reported directly to the butler; the first footman (or head footman) was deputy or under-butler and filled in as butler during the butler's illness or absence. In a household without an official Head Housekeeper, female servants and kitchen staff were also directly under his management. Further, in a smaller household the butler usually acted as valet for his employer as well.

The modern butler

In times past, butlers earned their position by working their way up the service ladder. In the documentary The Authenticity of Gosford Park, former butler Arthur Inch described starting as a hall boy.[9] Today, however, there are butler schools; the top graduates may earn USD 50,000 to start. The most highly skilled and experienced butlers are reputed to make USD 250,000 plus benefits.[10]

Some schools distinguish between the “British Butler” prototype and its American counterpart. Starkey International, for example, trains and promotes the latter, believing Americans do not have the “servant mentality” that is part of the British Butler tradition and stresses that their American-style butlers and valets are typically educated and certified.[11]

For hundreds of years butlers were always male and this remains the usual case. There are, however, female butlers and they are sometimes preferred; an example would be in cultures where it is unacceptable to have males working intimately with females in a household. The website of the International Guild of Professional Butlers states that there is a “definite demand” for females in the profession, as Middle and Far Eastern families often prefer female butlers, as do female celebrities.[12] On the other hand, the Ivor Spencer School cautions that females are not easily placed. By contrast, in a 2002 article, Pamela Spruce, principal of the Australian Butler School, is quoted as saying that wealthy modern families tend not to want a man in their homes, although she does not give a reason for this. Spruce is also quoted as stating that “…at least 100 homes in Sydney are run by butlers.”[13]

As always, the butler’s job and scope of responsibilities varies with the size of the household and the expectations of the employer. Says Elizabeth Camille, a butler in Sydney: “I still make beds, clean toilets and peg out washing…It’s not all as glamourous as people perceive it to be.”[14]

Butlers in art

Heads of Six of Hogarth's Servants by 17th century English artist William Hogarth. Hogarth's butler is in the center.Template:Photo

In a famous painting by the 17th century English artist William Hogarth, he depicted his household servants, each surrounding the butler. In depicting the group in a close-knit assemblage rather than in the performance of their routine household duties, Hogarth sought to profoundly humanize and dignify them. At the same time, he painted their facial expressions to convey the sincerity and deference expected of servant-class members.

Butlers in fiction

The real-life butler is discreet and unobtrusive. The butler of fiction, by contrast, is larger-than-life and has become a plot device in literature and a traditional role in the performing arts. Butlers provide often comic relief with wry comments, clues as to the perpetrators of various crimes and they are represented as at least as intelligent, or even more so, than their “betters”. Butlers in fiction almost invariably follow the “British Butler” model, with an appropriate-sounding surname. The Asian (or African-American, or Caribbean) houseboy is a variant, but even these major-domos are based on the British icon.

"The butler" is integral to the plot of countless potboilers and melodramas, whether or not the character has been given a name. Butlers figure so prominently in period pieces and whodunits that they can be considered stock characters in film and theatre where a catch phrase is "the butler did it!"

Famous butlers

Fictional butlers

The best known fictional manservant, and the prototype of the quintessential British butler, is himself not a butler at all. Reginald Jeeves, the iconic creation of author P. G. Wodehouse is a "gentleman's gentleman" or valet.

Alfred Pennyworth, from Batman, unusually known as “Alfred” rather than “Pennyworth”, “Hudson” of Upstairs, Downstairs fame and Crichton, from J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton are probably the best-known butlers in English-language literature. Other notables include:

For a more comprehensive listing of butlers and valets with notes, see Catalogue of butlers and valets.

References

  1. ↑ Emily Post’s Etiquette: A Guide to Modern Manners by Elizabeth L. Post. 14th Edition. 1984.
  2. ↑ 18th Century housekeepers made extra money by giving tours of the great house. See e.g. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It would appear that at this point in history the housekeeper still outranked the butler. An episode of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs portrays a powerful housekeeper who virtually guarantees a butler position to Angus Hudson, should he decide to accept it.
  3. ↑ Merriam-Webster New Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition.
  4. ↑ ibid.
  5. ↑ Website of The International Butler Academy: "Interesting Facts" [1]
  6. ↑ Book of Genesis, Chapter 40. Pharaoh’s servant’s position is translated as “chief butler” in the Modern King James Version and as “chief cupbearer” in the New International Version.
  7. ↑ Website of The International Butler Academy: "Interesting Facts" [2]
  8. ↑ Emily Post's Etiquette, op.cit. This version of the butler's status in a great house is widely accepted.
  9. ↑ Documentary: The Authenticity of Gosford Park © 2002 USA Films
  10. ↑ The websites of butler schools and placements agencies such as The International Guild of Butlers, Starkey International and Town and Country Resources as well as eHow.com agree on a general salary range of $40,000 to $120,000 or more, depending on market, location and the individual’s skills and experience.
  11. ↑ Starkey does lay claim to understanding the British Butler tradition, however, their general approach seems to be that American domestic staff is better suited to American families.
  12. ↑ www.butlersguild.com
  13. ↑ Move over, Jeeves, a new breed of butler is working her way up. James Woodford. October 5 2002.
  14. ↑ ibid.
  15. ↑ http://www.homestaffingnetwork.com/who_we_are.php?detail_id=3 A profile of Paul Hogan from Home Staffing Network International.

External links

See also

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