Why Every Gilded Age Mansion Needed an Army of Servants

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OSafPW... Fall asleep inside the account book of a Gilded Age mansion, one department at a time. At Hyde Park, a couple with no children employed 17 people in the house, 2 in the pavilion and 44 on the grounds, with 13 men for the lawns alone. The Breakers had 27 fireplaces and a boiler room 120 yards away under the lawn, and its stable needed 20 grooms for 20 carriages. At Biltmore in 1908, two laundresses ironed 219 pieces in a day, at 7 minutes to a handkerchief. So why did one great house need so many people? Subscribe to the channel: @oldsocietynights In this video, we talk about why the great American houses needed armies of servants and how that changed, including the superintending housekeeper and her monthly account, the house run like a hotel, Mrs. Sherwood's nine meals a day, the useful man and the coal for every fire, the Hyde Park powerhouse and the lights coming on at dusk, the Biltmore laundry of 1908, the chef and his commissions, the butler's four men and the bell habit, seventy rooms aired each morning, family livery colors from Astor green to Vanderbilt claret, eight men for a dinner of twenty four, guests and their own maids and valets, the Breakers stable, the coming of the chauffeur, the farm and greenhouses, five houses and a yacht, closing a palace under white covers, the wage ladder, the income tax of 1913, the war and the empty ships, the washing machine and the thermostat, and the houses opened to everyone. 🔔 Subscribe so the next long night in a great house finds you without any searching. 💬 Tell us where you're listening from, and which line in the mansion's account you would most like to have kept, the coal, the laundry, the stable or the front door. 📢 Share this with anyone who loves the Gilded Age, Newport, Biltmore or old house tours, on Facebook, Reddit or the family group chat. You're the reason these nights keep coming. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 16:14 Three departments and one book 31:52 The lights come on at dusk 53:10 Four men at least, and a bell 1:13:25 Eight men for twenty four 1:34:14 From coach house to garage 1:54:02 Closing a palace for the season 2:09:52 Nineteen thirteen and the war Sources: National Park Service, Household Management at Hyde Park Household Management at Hyde Park (U.S. National Park Service) National Park Service, Vanderbilt Mansion Historical Handbook (1960) Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site · New York Mary Elizabeth Carter, Millionaire Households and Their Domestic Economy (1903) https://archive.org/stream/millionair... Preservation Society of Newport County, The Breakers Stable and Carriage House The Breakers Stable & Carriage House | Newport Mansions Biltmore, Biltmore House by the Numbers https://assets.biltmore.com/wp-conten... George J. Stigler, Domestic Servants in the United States 1900–1940 (NBER) https://www.nber.org/system/files/cha... Emily Post, Etiquette (1922) Etiquette by Emily Post DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #OldSocietyNights #GildedAge #GildedAgeMansions #OldMoney #Servants #DownstairsHistory #Vanderbilt #TheBreakers #Biltmore #HydePark #Newport #NewportMansions #FifthAvenue #Staatsburgh #FrickCollection #AmericanHistory #SocialHistory #HistoryForSleep #SleepStory #BedtimeStory #History #Documentary