Downton Abbey: Rules for Household Staff

Wonderful read, even if you don't watch the show. I first learned of this book on the Celebrity PA Network's website, which also states the Downton Abbey family was real, which I did not know. The book isn't so long, but it's meaningful. I highly recommend.

Fun book! Big fan of the included cleaning recipes & garment care tips, which line up pretty well with other ones I've read in Actual Household Manuals of the era, so whoever was ghostwriting for Mr Carson did their research. ;-) Everything I know about wine circa the 1920s (very little) I learned from this book. A solid 25% of the text reads like a passive aggressive personal attack on Thomas Barrow, but so do most of the words that come out of Carson's mouth, so props for accuracy. I cannot imagine this would appeal to anyone who isn't already very into Downton Abbey, but they're not the target audience. Casual reading will provide additional context with which to approach the show (what do the servants spend all their time doing when they're not on screen?); close reading will give you Word-of-God insight into the downstairs characters (Carson, like his long-term protégé already aforementioned, has some unresolved daddy issues). If you've got the money (or the digital credit) to spare and a prior vested interest I don't think you can really go wrong here.

I really do love this book. While the rating is 5 stars, I would like to mention one thing that would make it truly better: NO FREAKING STICKER ON THE BACK! I like my books to not have a sticker on it and while it's nice to know that the book costs $14.99 USD, taking off the sticker is not fun. Especially when it rips off the back off the book as well when it comes off. I don't know how to get the sticker off without ruining the back of the book, but that would be something nice to think about. So, if they could leave off the sticker next time, that would be great. Other than that, I love the book, it's very informative. If I ever cosplay a servant, I'll definitely be using this book as reference. :)

I absolutely love this book. I had this books an ebook. But to have a physical copy in my home, is Devine. I fell in love with the show Downton Abbey. Since than I been longing for anything that is from Edwardian era or Victorian era. Plus this book is filled with great advice that helps you to better yourself. If you love Downton Abbey. Please pick up this book. Now that I have I feel like I can have Class, and Decorum. I feel like upper class with beer pocket money. 😊

I found this oddly interesting. I'm a big fan of the show, so many tidbits really helped me to understand what they were doing onscreen (like with decanting the wine in front of a candle). The parts about how to remove stains from clothing were interesting - they had no corner drycleaner to take care of it, so had to know how to clean silk and beaded clothing without causing more damage. Ditto with how to take care of silverware, furniture, carpet, etc. But some parts got a bit tedious with so much detail about housekeeping. Maybe that's because I'm an indifferent housekeeper. I wonder if these tips really work if you were to give them a try, seems like they would.

I found this book quite interesting and full of information. I have even more respect now for those who were "in service" back then. The print was smaller than standard print but not difficult for me to read. Now I will have to share it with my sister, another fan of Downton.

As an author, I found this book wonderful for research. I write medieval / fairy tale stories and even though this was written for a different century, there was still much that I could use. I enjoyed learning about the hierarchy of the staff and the different duties of each servant. Also, in the introduction, Carson gives a beautiful explanation about the honor of being a servant, which was uplifting to read. He had a way of making it sound noble, which it is. Just because your job may require mundane tasks does not lessen you as a person, it is something you can take pride in because you are bettering life for others. Certainly when I watch Downton Abbey I feel the servants deserve so much more respect than the Granthams! Lady Mary is such a waste of space, isn't she? :D -Anita Valle, author of The Nine Princesses Novellas

I loved and watched all the seasons of Dowton and had to read this. Oh my, what those people went through back then! I know it wasn’t all rainbows and sugar plums and they were treated as for the most part 3rd class citizens. The rules they had to live by though when they finally got one of the coveted estate jobs! Of course the women had more rules, 4th class citizen or none. Doing ancestral research, I know my ancestors worked in places liked Dowton/Highclere, this book gives me an idea of what their life was back then since I never met them. This book is eye opening.

very good

Nice read with some interesting household hacks that still work today!

Vad jag ville ha.

Fascinating look into all the work and household savvy that went into keeping the house and the upstairs folks looking their best at all times. For example,rugs, furs, jackets, gloves and hunting clothes were not sent out to the dry-cleaners ( if there was such a thing in those days) they were cleaned at home by household staff using household materials and a lot of elbow grease. The book is full of practical advice on how to manage the household without such modern conveniences as each large house had to be quite self-sufficient. I learned a lot! Now, if only I had staff...

Permet de se replonger dans l'ambiance de la célèbre série télévisée. Permet de connaître les usages de la société edwardienne dont certains sont encore en vigueur de nos jours.