| The maid was
to keep the merchant's household in order. She
had many duties. She was to get up first in
the morning, cook breakfast for the master,
mistress and their children. She was to wake
up the children and help them dress, lay the
table and clear up after the meal. Market
place
with shopping for lunch came next; sometimes
she went alone, sometimes accompanied her
mistress. Preparations for lunch took a long
time. After lunch the maid was usually
given a short break after which she worked
until night again, cleaning, sweeping the
floors, scouring pots and pans, laundering,
looking after children, mending her own and
the family's clothes, heating the stoves and -
once a week - baking bread. In the evenings by
candlelight there was handicrafts to do. At
bedtime she was to fold the beds down |
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and in a
cold season warm them with a warming-pan.At
last she could go to bed herself to be up
first again in the morning and start the
rounds all over. Wealthier men had more than one maid and in
this case there was some division of work.
The few joys in her life were chats with
other maids at the market-place or in the
street, gossip about the respective families
and exchange of news.
On fine days the maid sometimes took the
children for a walk out of town, being able to
enjoy the sun, the fresh air and greenery
herself, too. Sundays were red-letter days due
to the church that was festive and beautiful,
where one wore one´s best garb and saw many a
familiar and unfamiliar face. She also got a
few hours off every Sunday and could spend
them with friends.
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