I’m going in with the operating assumption (which seems supported by how people are dressed) that nearly all “Days of Real Sport” are nostalgia pieces set in Briggs’ own youth, i.e. the mid 1880s.
Our friend Fred in St Louis shows that the average laborer’s wage in the 1880s was 12 to 13 cents (nominal) per hour or about a dollar a day. (though this was the era were 10 to 12 hours a day were common, so that’s probably where we see other sources provides figures close to a buck fifty a day).
So either they are way way underpaying her, even for that time, or this is (and it seems most likely to me) some part time work, a couple hours a day around mealtimes to cook prep, clean up afterwards, and help out with the kids as needed. And in that case, I could maybe see how the neighbors may perceive her as being overpaid. (i.e. putting in 8-10 hours a week gives a nominal wage of at least 20 cents a hour, which was above average, esp for a woman, of that era)
The question of ‘are you going to sleep here’ also maybe leads me to this conclusion, but I’m probably overinterpreting it. The perhaps is old enough to remember that the family actually had live-in help in the past, and a live-in maid may be a different thing than ‘a hired girl’?
Otoh, it does seem likely ‘the first hired girl’ contains what is says on the tin – this is a moderately successful financially secure middle class family that has enough money to afford some domestic help, and decided to ‘splurge’ on the expense now that there’s a fourth kid.Report
I interpreted “are you going to sleep here” as “room and board and two bucks a week in exchange for being an extra pair of hands”. But 10-12 hours a week makes a lot more sense.Report
I do think either case is possible. Looking around for the data, came across this fascinating journal from a hundred plus years ago, which points out that there were large regional variations in working class wages in the US, and additionally, some substantial variation within regions with the bigger cities usually having higher pay (but which in turn was extracted out of those workers with higher rents and other prices, and usually, with diminished family and social networks).Report
Okay… I had to search around and found that the wages refer to “daily wage”. So would this be “unskilled irregular”?Report
I’m not sure at all. I had a heck of time even figuring out if the tables for wages were daily or weekly, until I found that St Louis Fred chart.Report
Two bucks a week.Report
I’m going in with the operating assumption (which seems supported by how people are dressed) that nearly all “Days of Real Sport” are nostalgia pieces set in Briggs’ own youth, i.e. the mid 1880s.
Our friend Fred in St Louis shows that the average laborer’s wage in the 1880s was 12 to 13 cents (nominal) per hour or about a dollar a day. (though this was the era were 10 to 12 hours a day were common, so that’s probably where we see other sources provides figures close to a buck fifty a day).
So either they are way way underpaying her, even for that time, or this is (and it seems most likely to me) some part time work, a couple hours a day around mealtimes to cook prep, clean up afterwards, and help out with the kids as needed. And in that case, I could maybe see how the neighbors may perceive her as being overpaid. (i.e. putting in 8-10 hours a week gives a nominal wage of at least 20 cents a hour, which was above average, esp for a woman, of that era)
The question of ‘are you going to sleep here’ also maybe leads me to this conclusion, but I’m probably overinterpreting it. The perhaps is old enough to remember that the family actually had live-in help in the past, and a live-in maid may be a different thing than ‘a hired girl’?
Otoh, it does seem likely ‘the first hired girl’ contains what is says on the tin – this is a moderately successful financially secure middle class family that has enough money to afford some domestic help, and decided to ‘splurge’ on the expense now that there’s a fourth kid.Report
I interpreted “are you going to sleep here” as “room and board and two bucks a week in exchange for being an extra pair of hands”. But 10-12 hours a week makes a lot more sense.Report
I do think either case is possible. Looking around for the data, came across this fascinating journal from a hundred plus years ago, which points out that there were large regional variations in working class wages in the US, and additionally, some substantial variation within regions with the bigger cities usually having higher pay (but which in turn was extracted out of those workers with higher rents and other prices, and usually, with diminished family and social networks).Report
from a collection at the University of MissouriReport
Okay… I had to search around and found that the wages refer to “daily wage”. So would this be “unskilled irregular”?Report
I’m not sure at all. I had a heck of time even figuring out if the tables for wages were daily or weekly, until I found that St Louis Fred chart.Report