Women's Work

Man may work from sun to sun
But woman's work is never done.

Join us as we pay tribute to the daily toil of the mistress and maids of the Read House of years past.  "Women's Work" highlights the lifestyles of women from three different time periods and families: Reads (1803-1836), the Coupers (1846-1919), and the Lairds (1920-1975).

A Read daughter, for example, had to learn the refinements of playing music, singing and dancing if she hoped to find a husband, while within audible range, a servant woman blackened the stove.

The mistress of such a large house, with as many as a dozen servants, had to supervise all chores and account for the silver, china, and linens.

 

The women of the Read family didn't have much to occupy their time so they turned to embroidering and elaborate needlework designs on sashes, sheets, and stockings. The daughters had to produce a sampler to prove their skills to prospective grooms.

The servants' hands were never idle.  After sewing and mending
for the mistress and her family, they might alter an item handed
down from one servant to another (background).

Birthing and raising a large family was an important responsibility of a nineteenth century woman like Mrs. Read. Nine pregnancies ensured her frequent confinement in her bedroom, where she was attended to by a doctor or midwife.

 

During the Couper period, sewing skills declined, but applied or transfer patterns allowed even unskilled women to create embroidered artwork.  More women turned to painting to fill their leisure hours, especially painting china.  The maids cleaned the fireplaces daily.

Housemaids ensured that an evening dinner party would follow the proper rules of etiquette with the required number of forks, and the correct placement of water, wine, and champagne glasses, often using a ruler.  A manservant was responsible for stoking, cleaning, and filling the new coal boiler in the basement.

Woman's Work runs through December 31, 2004
(Celebrate the Season - special holiday decorations
of Women's Work)
at the Read House and Gardens
42 The Strand, New Castle, Delaware 19720

Tuesday through Thursday and Sundays: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Friday and Saturdays 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.