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 GUIDE

 TO

 HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING




 BY

 MARY E. PALMER

 1908




 Copyrighted 1908,

 BY

 MARY E. PALMER




 THE TRIBUNE PRINTING CO.
 Charleston. W. Va.




[Illustration]




CREDIT TO THE HOTEL WORLD.


The greater part of the contents of this book was published, in
instalments, in The Hotel World, of Chicago.




A FOREWORD.


My chief purpose in writing this book was to place a few guide-posts
along the route of hotel housekeepers to warn them against certain
errors common to women engaged in the arduous and difficult occupation
of keeping house for hotels.

If anything that I have set forth herein shall make the work of hotel
housekeepers easier, more inviting, or more efficient, thereby
contributing to the satisfaction of proprietors and to the comfort of
patrons, I shall feel amply repaid for writing this book.

 MARY E. PALMER.

 Hotel Ruffner,
     Charleston, West Va.
 March 1, 1908.




THE MANAGER AND THE HELP.


The average hotel manager is only too prone to complain of the
incompetency and the inefficiency of hotel "help."

It is true that it is difficult to secure skilled help, for there is no
sort of institution that trains men and women for the different kinds
of hotel work. Each hotel must train its own help, or obtain them from
other hotels.

Thus there is no uniform and generally accepted standard of excellence
in the different departments of hotel-keeping.

A good word should be said in behalf of the Irish-American girls, who
constitute a majority of the laundry help, waitresses, and chambermaids
in American hotels to-day.

With a high regard for honor and rectitude, handicapped by poverty, they
find employment, at a very early age, in hotels, and perform menial
duties in a manner that is greatly to their credit.

The Irish-American girls are not shiftless, remaining in one place for
years until they either marry or leave to fill better positions, which
is the privilege of every one living under the "Stars and Stripes."

Some improve their spare time in study, thereby fitting themselves to
become stenographers and bookkeepers. Some adopt the stage as a
profession, one instance being that of Clara Morris, who takes delight
in telling of the days when she washed silver in a hotel.


_An ex-Governor Peeled Potatoes._

Ex-Governor Hoard, of Wisconsin, boasts of the time when he peeled
potatoes in a hotel.

The success of hotel-keeping depends largely on the manager. He should
possess patience, forbearance, and amiability. He should know that the
best results are obtained from his help by kindness, and that good food
and good beds mean better service.

The manager should realize that the working force of a hotel is like the
mechanism of a clock: it has to be wound occasionally and set going. No
novice can operate this wonderful piece of mechanism; it requires a
skilled mechanic.

The proprietor of a hotel should be a good loser; for there are periods
of the year when the employes outnumber the guests, and the
balance-sheet shows a heavy loss.

One of the most successful hotel men of the writer's acquaintance is Mr.
Louis Reibold, formerly of the Bates House (now the Claypool),
Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. Reibold's fame rests in his liberal, kindly
treatment of his help. He never called them "help," but always referred
to them as "employes." Reception, reading, and writing-rooms were
furnished for their use, and he himself saw that good food was provided
and that the tables were spread with clean, white table-cloths once a
day.

He remembered his employes at Christmas, each one receiving a gold coin,
some as much as $20.

When a girl in his employ lost her arm in a mangle, he presented her
with a house and lot, provided her with ample means to furnish the house
and to keep her the remainder of her lifetime.

Mr. Reibold is a multi-millionaire, and he has the admiration and love
of every woman and man that ever worked for him.




FEEDING AND ROOMING THE HELP.


Employes, such as housekeepers, clerks, cashiers, stenographers,
stewards--though few stewards use the privilege--and bartenders, are
permitted to take their meals in the main dining-room.

Other office-employes take their meals in the officers' dining-room,
from the same bill of fare used in the main dining-room.

Chambermaids, bell-boys, and other "help," are served in the "helps'
hall," from a separate bill of fare. Their food is good, as a rule; when
it is not, the fault usually lies with the chef in the kitchen. All
proprietors want their help to have good food.

The housekeeper can do much to make the help comfortable. She can see
that their rooms are kept clean and sweet, and free from vermin. She can
give them soft pillows and plenty of warm covering. It is her duty to
add to their comfort in every way she can.

In a majority of hotels, the help are roomed and fed equally as well as
are the patrons.




REQUIREMENTS OF A HOUSEKEEPER.


Every profession or trade is made up of two classes: the apprentice and
the skilled workman. The young woman looking for a position as hotel
housekeeper should not forget that careful training is fully as
important and necessary in her chosen vocation as it is in medicine or
cooking; that she must learn by slow and wearisome experience what it
has taken years for the skilled housekeeper to acquire.

The apprentice may stumble on the road to success and may even fall by
the wayside. In order to succeed, she must give her time wholly to her
occupation. She must be thankful for the successes that come to her and
not fret over the failures, remembering that hotel housekeeping, like
all other occupations, demands experience, patience, and perseverance,
as well as skill, in its followers.

The profession is overcrowded with novices to-day; they are the ones
that have demoralized the profession--if the word, profession, may be
applied to hotel housekeeping. The failure of many housekeepers is due
to the lack of proper training; it is only the skilled housekeeper that
wins lasting approval.

A trained nurse must remain in a training school at least three years,
possibly four, before she is given a certificate to care for the sick.
The chef of the hotel kitchen, in all probability began his career as a
scullion, serving at least ten years' apprenticeship in minor situations
in the kitchen. The housekeeper must not be above gaining knowledge in
the laundry and the linen-room. A woman that is ambitious to become a
good housekeeper should first serve as a chambermaid. If she is wise,
she will secure the good graces of the linen-woman by offering to help
her mend the linen, hem the napkins, sort the linen, and mend the
curtains.

In this way, a clever chambermaid may learn many useful things that will
help her to a better position. From the linen-room, it is only a step to
the position of a housekeeper. When a housekeeper leaves on her
vacation, or is called away to fill another place, or drops out on
account of illness, the linen-woman may seize the opportunity of showing
her executive ability. After she has worked faithfully in the linen-room
for three years, there is not much danger that a linen-woman of ability
will fail to find employment as a housekeeper. If she should have any
trouble getting a situation, one way out of the difficulty is to offer
her services one month on probation to a hotel man in need of a
housekeeper; and, if she is granted a trial and mixes brains with her
enthusiasm, she will receive a housekeeper's salary at the end of the
month.

Just what a housekeeper's work should be is a vital question. We hear of
housekeepers meddling in the steward's department and with the affairs
of the office. This is, at least, no less wrong than the idea that the
housekeeper owes servile obedience to all other heads of departments.

The essential requirements of a housekeeper are the same, whether she is
in a hotel with the capacity of a thousand guests or in a hotel of two
hundred rooms. The young housekeeper, looking for a position in a
first-class hotel, should read the following requirements, which were
submitted to the writer by the manager of a first-class Western hotel a
few years ago:


_A Housekeeper's Requirements._

 Must be morally correct.
 Must have a dignified and respectable appearance.
 Must have executive ability.
 Must have a good disposition and try to get along with the help.
 Must be a good listener and not a talker.
 Must be quiet, giving orders in a firm but low tone.
 Must be loyal to the management.
 Must be courteous to guests.
 Must not worry the management with small matters.
 Must refrain from gossiping.

Neatness in dress is essential to the success of a hotel housekeeper.
She should take great pains to be always well groomed, and neat in her
attire. If she finds herself growing coarse or commonplace-looking, her
fingernails in mourning, and her hair unacquainted with soap and water,
she should at once set about to remedy the defects. It is her duty, as
well as her privilege, to dress as well as she can, not by donning all
the colors of the rainbow or by useless extravagance, but by modest and
harmonizing shades and by appropriate apparel. It behooves the woman to
make herself as good-looking as possible, for good looks pay. Obliging
manners are also a stock in trade. Grit, grace, and good looks can
accomplish wonders, especially the good looks.

Ignorance and ambition make an unprofitable combination. There are
housekeepers filling positions to-day that have never been taught to do
a single useful thing correctly; they can not darn the linens, they can
not sew, they can not upholster a chair, they can not wait on the sick,
nor can they settle the slightest dispute without sending for the
manager. The housekeeper should know how these things are done, in order
to impart her knowledge to others; for any housekeeper that has any
respect for her calling considers herself an instructor.

There is no special hour set for the housekeeper's appearance in the
morning. It is safe to say that she will make a greater "impression" and
last longer by rising at 6 o'clock. Late rising is one of the rocks on
which many a housekeeper has been wrecked.


_Cheerfulness and Good Manners._

Every housekeeper should make the "good morning" her bright keynote for
the day. She should not say, "Hello, Mollie," to a girl named Mary.
Though the girl may be only a scrub-girl, she knows a breach of
etiquette; and a girl that bears the beautiful name of Mary does not
want it changed to "Mollie."

A cheerful "good morning" should be the beginning of each day, by the
housekeeper. It makes everybody feel pleasant, and the maids can work
faster and easier when their hearts are full of pleasantness.

The successful housekeeper does not win her laurels by merely perfecting
herself in her work, but also by careful study of the lives of others in
her charge, and how to promote their happiness.

Getting along with help requires tact, poise, and balance. The
housekeeper should bestow praise where it is due. She may give a gentle
pat on the back to some faithful employe, and yet keep her dignity. A
hard task may be made lighter by it, and monotonous labor robbed of its
weariness. The old and persistent notion that housekeepers are an
irascible tribe--if it was ever true--is not true now.

The question here arises--What qualities of mind and heart should a
housekeeper possess to be successful?

Nobody has discovered a rule--to say nothing of a principle--whereby a
housekeeper's success may be determined. It is reasonable to claim that
the permanent success of any housekeeper lies in her skill and in the
confidence and esteem of her employer. She has learned that skill is
acquired by serving an apprenticeship, and that esteem and confidence
are won by character. Everybody who touches a sterling character comes
at last to feel it, and the true hotel man has come to know that the
housekeeper of skill and character is his friend. After the relation of
friendship has been established between the manager and the housekeeper,
a "go-between" has no place; to speak plainly, there is no legitimate
function for a tattler.

The young housekeeper should not become discouraged, excited, or
worried, but learn to "manage." She should sit down quietly and think it
over. She should have a system about her most ordinary duties, and never
put off till to-morrow what may be done to-day. Tomorrow may never come,
and, if it does come, it will bring other duties equally as important.
Every field of labor has its drawbacks. The greater the work, the
greater the hindrances and the obstacles seem to be.




THE HOUSEKEEPER AND THE "HELP."


It is a truism that there should be no hostilities between the heads of
the different departments of a hotel. Everything works more smoothly and
satisfactorily when pleasant relationships exist between the different
departments of any business.

A housekeeper feels stronger if she thinks that she is of sufficient
importance to her employer to have her views receive some consideration.
She takes up her daily tasks with an added sense of responsibility, and
with a desire to do still better work.

No housekeeper is perfect. It cannot be wisely assumed that any
housekeeper will possess all the requisite qualifications for successful
housekeeping, nor can she develop them all, no matter how ambitious,
industrious, and naturally fitted for the work she may be. But
"Knowledge is power," and she that has the most of it, coupled with the
greatest ability to utilize it, enjoys advantages that will contribute
largely to her success.


_Keeping a Position._

A housekeeper studies not only to secure a good situation, but also to
avoid losing it. "Good enough" is not her motto; "the very best" are her
constant watchwords. Some one has said: "A housekeeper is born, not
made." The "born housekeeper" is a spasmodic housekeeper. As a rule, she
is not evenly balanced. A housekeeper with plain common sense,
susceptible to instructions, willing to obey orders, is the housekeeper
that leaves the old situation for one of better pay. There must be, of
course, a foundation on which to build. The stones of that foundation
should be self-control, self-confidence, education, neatness in dress,
and cleanliness. None of these is a gift, but an accomplishment that can
be developed more or less according to the individual.

Good manners are very essential. Politeness alone will not bring about
the desired results in any profession, but it has never been known to be
a hindrance. Manners that will be accepted without criticism in one
woman, will be odious and objectionable in another. Too much familiarity
breeds contempt. An employer would better be approached with dignity and
reserve.


_The Charm of Neatness._

Few housekeepers realize the charm of the neatly dressed woman. The hair
should always be neatly arranged and not look as if it was about to fall
on her shoulders. The binding of her skirt should not show ragged in
places. These are little things, but they weigh heavily in the general
results. The well-groomed woman knows that the neglect of these things
is full of shame to womankind.

In regard to "bumping up against" the bell-boys, clerks, stewards, and
stenographers, the wise housekeeper is shrewd enough to "stand in." She
"turns the other cheek," which may sometimes be a difficult task to
perform.

Remember that no one on earth can ever succeed in life and hold a
"grudge." The inability to forgive his enemies lost James G. Blaine the
White House.

If a bell-boy is caught doing something detrimental to the success of
the management, the housekeeper should write a note to the clerk, or the
captain of the watch, and inform him of the bell-boy's misdeeds. This
will be sufficient from the housekeeper.

On assuming the duties of a new field, the housekeeper may remember
merely a few important duties; for instance, she must carefully
scrutinize the time-book and learn all the maids' names and stations.
Next learn the location of rooms and become familiarized with every
piece of furniture in them. Then, step by step, she should build up the
general cleanliness of the house. This is by far the most important of
all the requisites pertaining to hotel housekeeping. Guarding against
difficulties encountered with the employes and with the managers' wives
is secondary.

A housekeeper that can not take orders is not fit to give them; if the
manager asks for the removal of an offensive employe, the housekeeper
should immediately get rid of the objectionable person. If the
housekeeper fails in deference to the manager's wishes, is not that good
evidence that she is not a good soldier? She should be eager to maintain
the dignity of her position--must maintain it in fact--and do as high
service as possible for the management. Yet she can not always carry out
her own ideas. The manager has his ideas about matters, which right or
wrong, must be respected. The housekeeper carries out the manager's
orders. If the hotel fails to bring a profit or give satisfaction, the
manager alone is held accountable.


_About Hiring Help._

To dismiss a maid is a very easy matter; to obtain a substitute that
will perform the duties assigned her in a manner that will prove more
effectual, is not so easy.

    To fire or not to fire, that is the question
    Whether 'tis easier on the impulse of the moment
    To suffer the terrors and exactions of the haughty maids,
    Or take up arms against their impudence
    And with pen and ink end them.
                   To lie, to sleep--

    Worry no more, and by good management to dispatch
    The cares and thousand little details
    Housekeepers are heir to--'tis a consummation
    Devoutly to be wished