What is Hall boy?
The '''hall boy''' or '''hallboy''' was the lowest ranked male [[domestic worker]] on the staff of a [[great house]]. Usually a [[boy]] or young teenager, his name derived from the fact that his main duties were in the [[servants' hall]], where he may also have slept. Like his female counterpart, the [[scullery maid]], the hall boy would have been expected to work up to 16 hours per day, seven days per week. His duties were often among the most disagreeable in the house, such as emptying [[chamber pot]]s for the higher-ranking servants, and (in the absence of a [[boot boy]]) cleaning the [[boot]]s. A hall boy could rise through the ranks and, if fortunate, eventually become a [[valet]] or [[butler]]. Arthur Inch, butler technical consultant for the film ''[[Gosford Park]]'', stated in an interview that he began his life in service as a hall boy at the age of 15.<ref>{{cite news |title=The butler did it--but how? |first=Patricia Dane |last=Rogers |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-11-30/features/0311300514_1_napkins-tables-dinner |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |agency=''[[The Washington Post]]'' |date=30 November 2003 |accessdate=16 July 2013 |archive-date=9 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309020450/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-11-30/features/0311300514_1_napkins-tables-dinner |url-status=dead }}</ref> == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Domestic work]]