Butler Service

HISTORY The word “butler” comes from the Old French bouteleur (cup bearer), from bouteille (bottle), and ultimately from Latin. The role of the butler, for centuries, has been that of the chief steward of a household, the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other bottled beverages which in ancient times might have represented a considerable portion of the household’s assets. In Britain, the butler was originally a middle-ranking member of the staff of a grand household.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the butler gradually became the senior, usually male, member of a household’s staff in the very grandest households. However, there was sometimes a steward who ran the outside estate and financial affairs, rather than just the household, and who was senior to the butler in social status into the 19th century. Butlers used to always be attired in a special uniform, distinct from the livery of junior servants, but today a butler is more likely to wear a business suit or business casual clothing and appear in uniform only on special occasions.

A Silverman or Silver Butler has expertise and professional knowledge of the management, secure storage, use and cleaning of all silverware, associated tableware and other paraphernalia for use at military and other special functions. See also Silver (household).  Origin A slave in charge of wine in ancient Rome. The garb indicates he was probably of Phrygian origin. The modern role of the butler has evolved from earlier roles that were generally concerned with the care and serving of alcoholic beverages.

Ancient through medieval eras From ancient through medieval times, alcoholic beverages were chiefly stored first in earthenware vessels, then later in wooden barrels, rather than in glass bottles; these containers would have been an important part of a household’s possessions. The care of these assets was therefore generally reserved for trusted slaves, although the job could also go to free persons because of heredity-based class lines or the inheritance of trades. The biblical book of Genesis contains a reference to a role precursive to modern butlers.

The early Hebrew Joseph interpreted a dream of Pharaoh’s ??? (shaqah) (literally “to give to drink”), which is most often translated into English as “chief butler” or “chief cup-bearer”. In ancient Greece and Rome, it was nearly always slaves who were charged with the care and service of wine, while during the Medieval Era the pincerna, usually a serf, filled the role within the noble court. The English word “butler” itself derives from the Middle English word boteler (and several other forms), from Old French bouteillier (“bottle bearer”), and before that from Medieval Latin butticula.

Butticula”, in turn, came down to English as “butt” from the Latin buttis, meaning a large cask. The modern English”butler” thus relates both to bottles and casks. A pincernadepicted in service to a noble court during the Medieval Era. Eventually the European butler emerged as a middle-ranking member of the servants of a great house, in charge of the buttery (originally a storeroom for “butts” of liquor, although the term later came to mean a general storeroom or pantry).

While this is so for household butlers, those with the same title but in service to the Crown enjoyed a position of administrative power and were only minimally involved with various stores. In a large house, the butler (centre-left) is traditionally head over a full array of household servants. This is the servant staff at the Stonehouse Hill of Massachusetts, the estate of F. Lothrop Ames, 1914. The modern butler Beginning around the early 1920s (following World War I), employment in domestic service occupations began a sharp overall decline in western European countries, and even more markedly in the United States.

Even so, there were still around 30,000 butlers employed in Britain by World War II. As few as one hundred were estimated to remain by the mid-1980s. Social historian Barry Higman argues that a high number of domestic workers within a society correlate with a high level of socio-economic inequality. Conversely, as a society undergoes levelling among its social classes, the number employed in domestic service declines. Following varied shifts and changes accompanying accelerated globalization beginning in the late 1980s, verall global demand for butlers since the turn of the millennium has risen dramatically.

According to Charles MacPherson, vice chairman of the International Guild of Professional Butlers, the proximate cause is that the number of millionaires and billionaires has increased in recent years, and such people are finding that they desire assistance in managing their households. MacPherson emphasises that the number of wealthy people in China have increased particularly, creating in that country a high demand for professional butlers who have been trained in the European butlering tradition. 15] There is also increasing demand for such butlers in other Asiancountries, India, and the petroleum-rich Middle East. Higman additionally argues that the inequality/equality levels of societies are a major determinant of the nature of the domestic servant/employer relationship. [18] As the 21st century approached, many butlers began carrying out an increasing number of duties formerly reserved for more junior household servants.

Butlers today may be called upon to do whatever household and personal duties their employers deem fitting, in the goal of freeing their employers to carry out their own personal and professional affairs. Professional butler and author Steven M. Ferry states that the image of tray-wielding butlers who specialise in serving tables and decanting wine is now anachronistic, and that employers may well be more interested in a butler who is capable of managing a full array of household affairs—from providing the traditional dinner service, to acting as valet, to managing high-tech systems and multiple homes with complexes of staff.

While in truly grand houses the modern butler may still function exclusively as a top-ranked household affairs manager, in lesser homes, such as those of dual-income middle-class professionals, they perform a full array of household and personal assistant duties,[20] including mundane housekeeping. Butlers today may also be situated within corporate settings, embassies, cruise ships, yachts, or within their own small “Rent-a-Butler” business or similar agency. ] Along with these changes of scope and context, butlering attire has changed.

Whereas butlers have traditionally worn a special uniform that separated them from junior servants, and although this is still often the case, butlers today may wear more casual clothing geared for climate, while exchanging it for formal business attire only upon special service occasions. There are cultural distinctions, as well. In the United States, butlers may frequently don a polo shirt and slacks, while in Bali they typically wear sarongs. In 2007, the number of butlers in Britain had risen to an estimated 5,000.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A BUTLER Where there is no housekeeper, the butler is in charge of all servants and is the household’s major executive. He does not have authority over governesses, registered nurses, social secretaries, tutors, or, of course, companions. Valets, chauffeurs, gardeners, and lady’s maids usually under direct supervision of employers, are more or less on an equal basis with the butler, although they do not interfere with his direction of other servants.

Where there is no footman, the butler opens the door to callers and, if necessary, asks who’s calling. He no longer opens the door, card tray in hand, but has one ready on the hall table if a card should be tendered. He does not take a card directly into his hand. Even with family friends he recognizes, a butler is careful not to commit himself at the door as to whether the person inquired for is actually at home, unless he knows the guest to be expected.

He says to a social caller, “Will Madam [or the gentleman] be seated [indicating a hall or anteroom chair]. I’ll see if Madam is home. ” A butler, even where there are footmen, is on duty in the hall whenever there is important entertaining. He, personally, helps the master into his coat, though a footman or parlor maid may bring it to him. He is always properly coated for front hall duty, although in a household with a small staff he wears a butler’s apron for manual work.

In a household where there is no valet, the butler valets the master, adult sons, and gentlemen guests. If there is a footman, the butler valets only the master. In the dining room the butler, when he isn’t serving, stands behind the mistress’s chair, attentive to any request she may wish to make. If he is assisted by a footman or waitress, either of these serves the vegetable, sauces, relishes, bread, and water. The butler usually serves the main dishes and the wines. Other: * Greet and escort guests to their rooms. Provide quality and personalized services to guests. * Assist and coordinate the arrivals and departures of guests. * Handle guests’ luggage and other baggage. * Ensure cleanliness of suites for guests. * Manage guests’ special requests delivery. * Provide exceptional and memorable services to guests throughout their stay. * Manage guests’ garment pressing, shoeshine and other services. * Follow-up and ensure that guests’ requests are met in a timely manner. * Execute guests’ orders.