Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/459

LEFT DOMESTIC ARCHITECTUBE 397 DOMESTIC SERVICE ing-rooms of the family; while in the Greek houses the back was the gynai- konitis, or apartments for the women and domestics. The atrium, or court, formed the central part of the front of the house and the peristyle, or hall, the central part of the back, both being open to the air. Round these the rooms were grouped, and from these princi- pally they derived their light. Behind the peristyle were the cubicula, or sleeping-rooms, and the triclinium, or dining-room, which was quite open to the peristyle. Norman. — The towns and ordinary houses of the Normans were entirely built of wood. Their castles, having but one destination, that of defense, aimed at nothing but strength in their plan or construction. The principal feature was always the keep or donjon, which con- tained the apartments of the lord of the castle, and was also meant to be the last refuge of the garrison if the outer works were forced. The keep was usually raised on an artificial mound, or placed on the edge of a precipice. The win- dows were few, and little more than chinks, unless very high up, or turned to the court. The whole fortress was defended by a moat. English. — Like the Saxons the Nor- mans had built almost entirely in wood or timber frame-work, houses of stone being the exception. The troubled state of the country, however, led to the erec- tion of numerous strong stone buildings or fortresses. Gradually, as civilization improved, the necessity for defense de- creased, and the efforts of Edward I. to introduce and encourage the arts in England by bringing over choice work- men and artists from France led to a marked change in the style of architec- ture. The close of the 17th century brought with it a taste for a return to classical models, and an attempt was made to work out a national style com- bining to some extent the characteristics of the Tudor and the Classical. This is commonly known as "Queen Anne" style. The buildings are generally of brick, solid and heavy. The domestic archi- tecture of the Georgian era is a very de- based imitation of the Classical. In the present day there is no essentially char- acteristic architectural style. American. — As a matter of course, in the earlier years of the existence of the Republic the architectural styles were drawn almost exclusively from English sources, and up to the outbreak of the Civil War, except in very few instances, the country did not contain any archi- tecture of distinctive features. But with the return of peace and prosperity the arts began to flourish, and great atten- tion was bestowed upon the construction and ornamentation of domestic build- ings. Numerous styles have appeared, had their day, and then given way in rapid succession to others, DOMESTIC SERVICE. Work done in the house by servants hired to per- form duties assigned to them. It is gen- erally held to include cooks, house- keepers, waiting-maids, butlers, chauf- feurs, nurses, etc. The earliest servants in the United States were the negro slaves and those who paid for their transportation to the Colonies by becom- ing for a certain number of years serv- ants to the people who paid their passage money. These latter were known as redemptioners. In the North after the Revolution this class was re- placed by the free laborers, in the South by the negro slaves. Up until the Civil War the relation of the household serv- ant to his or her employer was a very democratic one. Except in the larger cities the "help" sat at the same table, and were generally treated as the social equals of the family employing them. No badges of service such as a cap or livery were worn and the personal ele- ment entered into the service veiy largely. When, however, large numbers of unskilled laborers from foreign lands began to arrive in the United States thia state of affairs was altered. From 1845- 1860 Irish, German, and a little later Chinese unskilled laborers immigrated into the States, and household service was taken up by a great many of them. Obviously the same conditions of famili- arity between the family and the serv- ants could not continue, at least not in the Eastern States where the bulk of the immigrants stayed. In the Western section this democratic relationship still obtained, and does so to this day in the extreme frontier regions. Another fac- tor to be reckoned with in the East was the opportunity offered increasingly to household servants of working in fac- tories and establishments where there are fixed hours of labor and no curtailments of their personal freedom. An increasing distance between the family and the serv- ants was maintained by the wealthy and badges of service again came into use, a feature largely unknown in the period before the Civil War. The work- ing of factors above mentioned was stimulated by conditions brought about by the World War. An unprecedented demand for all sorts of labor was made by the Government and industrial estab- lishments, and wages, until then un- heard of, were offered. Large numl>ers of household servants accepted these offers, and those who did not stayed 26 — Vol. Ill — Cyc