KSZTAŁCENIE ŻEŃSKIEJ SŁUŻBY DOMOWEJ W ŚWIETLE «PRZYJACIELA SŁUG» (1897 – 1918)

Abstract

The monthly called «The Friend of Servants» issued in Krakow within the period of 1897 – 1918 was the sort of magazine which only until the year 1910 represented and supported the matters of female domestic servants. One of its publishers had been for many years the social and educational activist and teacher Adela Dziewicka, but its editor was Katarzyna Platek. Until 1910 the periodical covered cultural, educational, social and didactic issues. They were also publishing religious and edifying talks, or even series of articles of patriotic and historical content. Quite varied were the columns of correspondence and advertising. Since 1911 the periodical altered in quality to become more religious and even preacher-like in character. Many articles were not signed, which is the reason why they can be assumed to come from the publishing staff. The periodical provided additionally the information on the ways of educating house-keeping servants in the specially formed schools which were available throughout both Galicja (Krakow, Lwow, Przemyśl) and Wielkopolska (Dobrojewo). In those schools the young servants were mainly instructed in reading, writing, calculating, religion, sometimes singing, and even history. In Przemyśl and Dobrojewo the girls were taught to perform all the household chores as assumed by house-keeping servants (ie. the cleaning, washing, ironing, sewing, cooking, taking care of farm animals, poultry and the like. The schools intended for domestic servants offered free education. The classes were mainly held on Sunday afternoons. Any abscence from school was excused by the employer. Their teachers did not receive any pay. In Dobrojewo the older girls were trained in apprenticeship by the younger ones, and they were trained in cooking by a qualified cook. It cannot be denied that they were also trained by the school founder herself countess Barbara Kwilecka, in whose mansion the school was situated. At the end of the school year dedicated and gifted students were mostly awarded with belles-lettres and religious books. In the Dobrojewo school, the apprentices got paid as when being apprenticed they were performing all the duties of the domestic servants. The unemployed servants were admitted support from the community of the Daughters of the Love of God in Krakow. In their convent on Sundays and other holidays they could learn reading, writing, calculating and needlework. Those abilities helped them to find a job. The educational centres for servants chiefly focussed on the intellectual development of their charges as much as on their practical knowledge and morality.