Prompts And Fills Discussion Post

[cuddyclothes]

Someone asked about discussing prompts and fills. So here's an entry. As always, comment moderation is off, IP address logging is off. To start a thread, put the name of the prompt/kink you're discussing so we can keep them all straight.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Another canon/time period question for a fill! What is Jeeves's educational history likely to be? Would a servant/valet go to boarding school and/or university? Or just homeschooling while he's working? Definitely never a private school, right? What were the terms for that era's equivalents to high school/grade school?

[thesadchicken]

Sadly I don't know the answers, but this is very interesting! I hope someone here does have the answers

[cuddyclothes]

In England, private schools such as Eton are called public schools, weirdly enough (to this American).

Jeeves would have to have been largely self-educated since he was in service from such a young age. University was out of the question. He might have gone to school off and on. But I think he was mostly an autodidact. Occasionally I've wondered if he resented a fool like Bertie getting an Eton and Oxford education.

Elementary school is primary school; high school is secondary school.

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting, thanks so much! I've heard that about private/public school but I've also seen British people say it the other way around, too. Maybe that was only for the benefit of foreigners.

I also was wondering about that resentment/jealousy piece and was considering making that a focus in a fic.

Do we know since what age Jeeves has been in service? It's canon that he worked at a girls' school when he was younger I think, do we know how young?

[cuddyclothes]

In the story where Jeeves narrates he mentions it but I don't recall if he says when.

[worth_a_wound]

Jeeves says: "In my younger days, at the outset of my career, sir, I was at one time page-boy in a school for young ladies."

From what I could gather from my research it seems at that time almost all children were in school up to the age of 12.
The page was the lowest position of the lower servant staff. That made him a footman apprentice.
After that followed in rank footman, second footman and first footman (also known as under butler).
Here comes an interesting and rummy thing: footmen were placed in rank according to their height, size and good looks.
So in the TV adaptation a quick career and his young age as a valet would not have been unrealistic at all. ;)
As a valet he now belongs to the upper servant staff.

[cuddyclothes]

So he would have gone through primary school and maybe a year or two of secondary school? I would guess a provincial education in those days would be bare-bones.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you happen to know all that or did you do that research for me? Either way, thanks very much for the helpful and interesting info!

Relatedly, do you (or anyone else) have an idea of what his salary as a valet might be?

[cuddyclothes]

This is a helpful place to start:

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/servantwages.htm

[quaffanddoff]

Their main job was to be a private servant for the lady or master
of the house: assisting them with dressing, caring for their clothes, being a
general companion and even performing secretarial duties.

I didn't really realize that the "being a general companion" bit is actually part of the job description. So even canon Bertie thinks of Jeeves as his "companion." Why is this striking me as painfully adorable right now?

[(Anonymous)]

OMG! You are right!
I guess there were those masters and valets who were more and those who were less interested in or passionate about that part of the job. And ours are a perfect match. :)

[cuddyclothes]

It is! I'm sure none of his previous valets filled the bill anywhere near so well.

[(Anonymous)]

I went through some sources and what I found ranged from £35 to £120 per year.
Working in a bachelor household with no other service staff meant more work but also more income.

[(Anonymous)]

It's tricky to tell because the sources looked at different years and different household situations.

The Pocket Guide to Edwardian England: "£35—50 per year"

Countryhousereader: "Wage: 18th century – £20; 19th century – £50; 20th century – £120 upwards"

[worth_a_wound]

Your post made me want to look into that matter more closely.

We have several answers for the question about his income but I'll add a quote from "Edwardian England: A Guide to Everyday Life, 1900-1914" by Evangeline Holland to the collection.

With an average wage of £35-50 per year, the valet attended exclusively to the personal accommodation of his master. He waited upon him during all times of dressing and undressing; brushes, folds up his clothes, or places them in readiness for him. He saw to all repairs and put away clothes in a wardrobe when not in use, making sure to cover them with brown holland or linen wrappers to secure them from dust. Boots and shoes were cleaned by the under-footman, but each morning the valet placed them in the dressing-room for his master. While the housemaid cleaned the grate, lit the fire, and swept and dusted the room, he prepared the washing-table, arranged the shaving apparatus, and laid his master's clothing out for the day.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been familiar with these stories/this world for fifteen years but it still hits me now and then how crazy it is that some rich people had personal servants to do all these little things for them.

Anyway, what I'm gathering from all this is that around £100 - £120 is about the ceiling for a valet at a country estate in the 1910s. And I'm planning to write them, of course, in an urban bachelor household in the 1920s. Plus I want to emphasize how generous Bertie is and how superlative a valet Jeeves is. I'm thinking £200 as a reasonable yearly wage to convey that? Plus in canon it seems like there's also a ton in tips for a job exceptionally well done?