Women's Work

Here's in what occupations women said they were employed for the 1881 census. Servants, milliners, dressmakers, laundresses are perhaps quite predictable. See if you can find how many miners, and how many doctors ...

7167412 Returned by Property, Rank and not by Special Occupation

1763207 Children under five years of age

1,230,406 Indoor Servant
357,995 Milliner, Dressmaker, Staymaker
302,367 Cotton Manufacture
176,670 Washing and Bathing Service
94,241 Schoolmistresses
92,474 Charwoman
81,865 Shirtmaker, Seamstress
63,801 Worsted Manufacture
58,501 Woollen Cloth Manufacture
52,980 Tailor
40,346 Agricultural Labourer or Farm Servant
39,695 Silk Goods Manufacture
35,672 Shoemaker or Dealer
35,175 Sub-Medical Service or sick Nursing
32,890 Lodging or Boarding House Keeper
32,785 Lace Manufacturer, Dealer
28,781 Draper, Mercer
28,605 Teacher, or Professor and Lecturer
27,983 Straw Manufacture
26,487 Inn or Hotel servant
26,422 Grocer
25,772 General Shopkeeper
21,510 Hosiery Manufacture
20,614 Farmer and Grazier
17,877 Earthenware
17,660 Costermonger
13,261 Glove Maker
13,051 Confectioner
12,709 Inn or Hotel Keeper, Publican
11,526 Hospital and Institution Service
11,376 Musician and Music Teacher
10,592 Bookbinders
9,138 Nail Manufacture
9,072 Hat Manufacture (not straw)
8,718 Paper Box and Bag maker
8,575 Tobacco, Tobacconist
8,277 Paper – Manufacture
7,985 Cabinet Maker, Upholsterer
7,853 Flax, Linen Manufacturer
7,817 Factory hand (undefined)
7,633 Baker
7,524 Machinist
6,855 Greengrocer
6,185 Fancy Goods (Textile)
5,989 Commercial Clerk
5,329 Provision, Curer, Dealer
5,261 Stationer
5,190 Carpet
5,176 Fustian Manufacturer, Dealer
4,888 Trimmings
4,686 Hosier, Haberdasher
4,461 Artificial Flower Maker
4,443 Milkseller
4,351 Tin goods
4,301 Office Keeper (not Gov.)
4,238 Factory Labourer (undefined)
4,185 Brush Maker
4,179 Warehousewoman (Not Manchester)
4,121 Button Maker
4,112 Umbrellas, Sticks, &c
3,932 Cotton, Calico Printer &c.
3,795 Nun, or Sister of Charity
3,753 Goldsmith and Jeweller
3,728 Beer, &c. Dealer
3,496 Butcher
3,465 Skins – Furrier
3,216 Civil Service (officers and clerks)
3,099 Miners – Coal
3,017 Municipal Parish Union or District Officers
2,893 General Labourer
2,738 Brick maker or Dealer
2,664 Coffee or Eating House
2,646 Midwife
2,611 Mixed Materials – Weaver
2,595 Turner, Box Maker
2,525 Cane, Straw – Basket Maker
2,520 Embroiderer and others
2,503 Steel Pen, Maker or Dealer
2,368 Actor
2,364 Gardener (not Domestic)
2,344 Bolt, Nut, Screw Maker
2,297 Hemp, Jute, Manufacture
2,255 Artisan (undefined)
2,228 Telegraph and Telephone Service
2,209 Metal Burnisher, Lacquerer
2,202 Printers
2,093 Rope, Cord Maker, Dealer
2,089 Quill, Feather Dresser
2,074 Needle, Maker or Dealer
2,035 Saddler
2,029 French Polisher
1,977 Others [?unclear, comes after Goldsmith, Lapidary]
1,933 Envelope Maker
1,921 China or Glass Dealer
1,903 Miners – Tin
1,891 Other Iron and Steel
1,887 Fireworks
1,880 Painter
1,840 Dyer, Bleacher &c.
1,777 Sacking, Bag, Maker and others
1,753 Cook (not Domestic)
1,743 Hair – Bristle worker
1,707 Church, Chapel, Cemetery, Officer or Servant
1,692 Glass Manufacture
1,672 Thread Manufacturer, Dealer
1,663 Old Clothes Dealer and others
1,660 Missionary Scripture Reader, Minister, Itinerant Preacher
1,610 Messenger, Porter, or Watchman (not Gov.)
1,583 Cutler, Maker or Dealer
1,539 Japanner
1,481 Net Maker
1,448 India Rubber Worker
1,439 Salesman, Buyer
1,438 Publisher, Bookseller, Librarian
1403 Rag Dealer
1,374 Blanket Manufacture
1,346 Portmanteau, Bag, Strap, &c.
1,309 Photographer
1,278 Pawnbroker
1,233 Tackle, Toymaker or Dealer
1,206 File, Maker or Dealer
1,186 Ribbon Manufacture
1,168 Coal Merchant or Dealer
1,159 Tape Manufacturer, Dealer
1,149 School service, and otherwise engaged in teaching
1,129 Newspaper Agent, News Room Keeper
1,128 Manufacturing Chemist
1,059 Art Student
1,006 Crape, Gauze Manufacture
991 Anchor and Chain Manufacture
982 Brass, Bronze
978 Timber – Dealer
955 Furniture Broker
906 Ironmonger, Hardware Dealer
838 Pewterer, &c.
801 Fancy Chain or Toy Maker, and others
783 Corn Flour, Seed Dealer
775 Watch and Clock Maker
768 Wigmaker, Hairdresser
759 Apprentice
748 Lodge, Gate or Park Keeper
738 Pipes, Snuffbox, &c
734 Nurserywoman, Seedswoman, Florist
731 Carman, Carrier and Carter
725 Ticket, Label Writer, and others
687 Spinning and Weaving Machine Maker
684 Mustard, Spices &c. Dealer
668 Poulterer
650 Cloth, Stuff, Dealer and others
631 Chemist, Druggist
599 College or Club Service
584 Prison Officers &c
563 Fishing rods, &c.
560 Currier
553 Civil Service (messengers &c)
525 Manufacturer Superintendent (undefined)
521 Wire Worker
520 Performers
511 Broker, Agent, and Factor
503 Lamp, Candlestick
495 Pin, Maker or Dealer
479 Mat Maker
479 Clasp, Buckle
477 Other Railway Servants
470 Flannel Manufacture
454 Painter and Glazier
452 Author, Editor, Journalist
445 Paper Stainer
440 Card maker
422 Wine or Spirit Merchant, or Agent
408 Shawl Manufacture
389 Dye, Paint Manufacture
387 Roads. Turnpike Gate Keeper
386 Ship Steward or Cook
381 Oil and Colour
379 Calico Dealer
378 Waterproof Goods and others
371 Brewer
353 Bargewoman or Waterwoman
353 Cheesemonger
352 Locksmith and Bellhanger
347 Blacksmith
337 Ginger Beer Manufacturer and Dealer
330 Surgical Instrument Maker
330 Carver and Gilder
304 Vegetable substances, Others
301 Engine Machine Maker
300 Corn Miller
300 Metal (undefined) Worker, Dealer
294 Fisherwoman
293 Other Service
286 Cellarwoman
281 Art, Music, Theatre Service
280 Lapidary
279 Soap Boiler
274 Canvas, Sailcloth
267 Miners – Copper
266 Comb Maker and others
255 Accountrement Maker
247 Persons occupied in Insurance
245 Miners – Lead and undefined
241 Musical Instrument Maker or Dealer
240 Omnibus and Cab owner, Livery Stables
240 Plumber
234 Music Publishers
231 Miners – Ironstone
227 Cork Cutter and Dealer and others
222 Chandler
220 Philosophical Instrument Optician
219 Gunsmith
216 Carpenter or Joiner
216 Coachmaker
212 Dog or Bird Dealer
206 House and Shop Fittings
195 Weighing Apparatus Maker
192 Undertaker, and others
191 Tools, Maker or Dealer
174 Crossing Sweeper
171 Railway. Pointswoman, Level Crossing
166 Map and Print Colourer and Seller
159 Animal or Bird Preserver
159 Salt. Maker or Dealer
158 Glue, Isinglass, &c. Maker
157 Ink, Blacking
155 Bone, Ivory &c. Worker
147 Gasfitter
142 Charcoal Burner or Dealer
141 Lead Goods
135 Lithographer
135 Builder
133 Literary or Scientific Service
122 Gunpowder, Explosives Manufacture
122 Clay, Sand &c. Dealer
119 Sugar Refiner
118 Silk Dyer
118 Silk Dealer
109 Dealer in Works of Art
108 Mason
103 Other Gamers, Maker or Dealer
103 Cooper
102 Oil Miller, Oil Cake
100 Law Clerks, or otherwise connected with
100 Saw, Maker or Dealer
97 Wheelwright
97 Drysalter
95 Paperhanger
91 Navigation service (on shore)
91 Tanner, Fellmonger
89 Accountant
85 Catsmeat Dealer, &c.
85 Bricklayer
84 Bank Service
77 Refuse Matters. Chimney Sweep
76 Bicycle Maker and others
75 Others, agricultural
74 Patten Maker
73 Pencil, Wood, Maker or Dealer
70 Harbour Dock or Lighthouse Service
64 Medical Student, or Assistant
64 Engraver
59 Auctioneer, Appraiser, House Agent
58 Railway Carriage maker
58 Maltster
55 Manure Manufacture
53 Agricultural Machine Maker
53 Die, Seal or Medal Maker
50 Inland Navigation
50 Hay, Astraw (not plait)
50 Copper Goods Manufacture or Dealer
49 Horse Proprietor and Horse Breaker
47 Sail Maker
46 Billiards, &c.
46 Plaster Manufacture
45 Gardener
45 Felt Manufacture
44 Wool, Dyer, Printer
41 Plasterer and Whitewasher
41 Whitesmith
39 Ships, Ship Builder
39 Lime Burner
38 Proprietor or Attendant, Agricultural Machine
33 Navy
33 Image Maker or Dealer
32 Type Cutter
32 Slate – Worker
30 Mine Service
28 Wood Carver
28 Woolstaper
27 Ship Rigger
27 Contractor
26 Electrical Apparatus Maker
25 Physician, or General Practitioner
25 Cattle or Sheep Dealer
24 Parchment Maker or Dealer
24 Zinc Goods
22 Floor Cloth Manufacture
21 Domestic Machinery, Maker and Dealer
20 Waterworks’ Service and others
19 Fossil Dealer
18 Lath, Hurdle Maker
17 Army Pensioners
17 Fuller
16 Sculptor
16 Manchester Warehousewoman
15 Reporter or Shorthand writer
14 Wheel Chair Proprietor
14 Slater
12 Copper and Steel Plate Printer
10 Hop Merchant
7 Alkali Manufacture
5 Merchants
5 Banker
4 Sword or Bayonet Maker

list of women's employments based on the 1881 census, taken from

The Englishwoman's Review February 15, 1884

 

Slangy Girls

A guide to office etiquette for Edwardian office girls (London Journal, 1909):

SLANGY GIRL NOT WANTED.

No business man wants a secretary whom he cannot trust to see his business callers in his absences. A knowledge of good English and a courteous way of speaking are the things he wants in his representative.
    There are other little details of office manners which every business girl should know. In the first place, when you come to work in the morning. say good morning, individually or collectively, to your fellow workers. There is no need to be effusive about it, but it is a simple courtesy which is well worth while. If you are late, don't come hurrying in with "Gracious! Isn't this awful?"  but say simply and frankly, to the head of the office, "Good morning, Mr. Mr. Blank. I'm sorry to be late, and I will make up the time this evening ." For it is office manners, and the best sort of  office manners, to give your employers honestly all the time which they are paying you for. You owe them the ten minutes which you lost in the morning. You owe them the ten minutes you stayed out over your lunchtime. They will appreciate your honesty it you make it a point to see that their interests are protected.
OPINIONS TO BE GUARDED.
    Don't be familiar either with your superiors or inferiors on the office staff. Familiarity leads to gossip and office gossip is always bad for those taking part to it.
    You are not paid to make friendships or to chat with the rest of the office. Guard your opinions as to office conditions. The girl who sits at the desk next to yours, and who thinks the office manager a mean, partial thing, always giving the easiest work to someone else, may, if you agree with her, and let her know it, be unscrupulous enough to repeat your words to the office manager himself, or to someone else who can injure your prospects.
    You can be pleasant and polite to every one, but keep your own counsel—or you will be sure to wish you had.
    Don't get into the habit of criticising your superiors, even to yourself. Maybe the head of the firm is cranky and inconsiderate of you, but you must remember that you are only a small piece of a big mechanism, and that it is this mechanism which he is working with all his strength to keep mowing,
    He is struggling with problems of the gravest weight and importance, and when you misspell words and get figures wrong you are putting most trying little obstacles in the way of his success, and when he flies out at you and calls you inattentive and incompetent, he is only telling you the truth. Try to concentrate and make your work the big thing during work time.
    All girls should remember, too, that the office is not the place for manicuring, hair-dressing, or general 'prinking'. All that sort of thing should be done at home. How many business girls, during a lull in work, may he seen giving attention to their nails or readjusting their side-combs, and the like. Some girls even have little mirrors into which they may be seen looking anxiously whenever they get a chance.

"The mind is always more or less disturbed."

Most Victorians were very conservative in their thinking about the role of women in the workforce. Here is a excerpt from an article by "Ely Van de Warker, M.D." on 'The Relations of Women to the Professions and Skilled Labour' (in Popular Science of 1875) which pretty much confirms every negative thought you ever had about the Victorian world view:

"There is one fact in woman's functional life which is of vast importance to the subject of this paper, and which I refer to with great reluctance. This fact is ovulation. The mental reaction of this function is oftentimes of such a character as, for the time, to totally incapacitate for professional or other mental work. As this paper is written solely with the view of arriving at the truth in a matter of great practical importance, I must let this serve as my apology for referring plainly to this subject; and this importance requires that I let others, who are acknowledged authorities in gynaecology, speak for me.
    Dr. Robert Barnes, of London, the author of the latest work upon gynaecology, uses the following unequivocal language: "The mind is always more or less disturbed. Perception, or at least the faculty of rightly interpreting perceptions, is disordered. Excitement to the point of passing delirium is not uncommon. Irritability of temper, disposition to distort the most ordinary and best-meaning acts or words of surrounding persons, afflict the patient, who is conscious of her unreason, and perplex her friends, until they have learned to understand these recurring outbursts. . . . Not even the best educated women are all free from these mental disorders. Indeed, the more preponderant the nervous element, the greater is the liability to the invasion. Women of coarser mould, who labor with their hands, especially in out-door occupations, are far less subject to these nervous complications. If they are less frequently observed, if they less frequently drive refined women to acts of flagrant extravagance, it is because education enables them to control their dangerous thoughts, or to conceal them until they have passed away." Another of the accidents attendant upon ovulation is hysteria. Dr. Tilt defines it as a disease peculiar to women during the reproductive period of life, and is often known to return at each period of ovulation. This function is constantly liable to accidents. Speaking of the mental effects of amenorrhoea, a disease to which every women is liable who follows an intellectually rather than a physically active life, Sir J.Y. Simpson says that she becomes "subject to fits of excitement which come on most frequently at a menstrual period, and which usually assume an hysterical form, but are, at times, almost maniacal in character." I shall make on other quotation, and I am glad to say that it bears directly and practically upon the matter. Dr. H.R.Storer of Boston, is reported to have spoken as follows in a debate at the Gynaecological Society of Boston, May, 1870: "In the present state of public opinion, it were foolish, and at the same time unkind, to object to female physicians upon any untenable grounds; and he frankly stated that the arguments that physicians had usually employed, when discussing this subject, were, almost without exception, untenable. Some of the women who were desirous of practicising physic and surgery were just as well educated for the work, had just as much inclination for it, and were as unflinching in the presence of suffering, or at the sight of blood, as were many male practitioners. They had a right to demand an acknowledgement that, in these respects, they were as competentto practise as are a large proportion of ourselves. There is, however, one point, and it is upon this that the whole question must turn, that has till now almost wholly been lost sight of: and this is the fact that, like the rest of their sex, lady doctors, until they are practically old women, regularly menstruate, and are therefore subject to those alterations of mental condition, which so universally affect, temporarily, their faculties of reason and judgment. That these faculties are thus affected at the times referred to is universally acknowledged."
    Many other authors may be cited to the same effect; but these are sufficient to render evident the possibilities of danger, if not of disaster, to women subject to the ceaseless calls of professional life.
     Among popular writers upon this subject, the matter of wifehood or motherhood has been treated as if, were woman willing to sacrifice some of her traditional feeling, and voluntary likings for the other sex, she might cast off the fetters of these honorable conditions, and move on untrammeled to the study and practice of a profession. We have been studying woman, in her relation to the subject of this paper, as as sexual being; and, if we continue the study in the same direction, we must arrive at the conclusion that marriage is not an optional matter with her. On the contrary, it is a prime necessity to her normal, physical, and intellectual life. There is an undercurrent of impulse impelling every healthy woman to marry. That this is a law of her sexual being we know by the positive evidence of medical men and others. We also know that the married woman exerts a more marked influence upon men, and society in general, than the celibate. There is also, among married women, a more perfect equilibrium between the intellectual, physical and sexual forces; and yet, necessary as marriage is for woman, in the present relation of the sexes, it must in every way impair her prospects of success in professional work.
    The effect of celibacy upon women has often elicited the remarks of gynacologists. Dr. Tilt says of marriage: "It is easier to prove the benefits of marriage than to measure accurately the evils of celibacy, which I believe to be a fruitful source of uterine disease. The sexual instinct is a healthy impulse, claiming satisfaction as a natural right." Again: "An enlarged field of observation convinces me that the profession has not in any wise exaggerated the influence of marriage on women, and that its dangers are infinitesimal as compared with those of celibacy." Nearly every treatise upon gynaecology may be quoted to establish the same fact. It is upon the mind of woman that the defeated sexuality acts reflexly in a morbid manner. Dr. Maudsley, who has had abundant opportunities for observation, says: "The sexual passion is one of the strongest in Nature, and as soon as it comes into activity it declares its influence on every pulse of organic life, revolutionizing the entire nature, conscious and unconscious; when, therefore, the means of its gratification entirely fail, and when there is no vicarious outlet for its energy, the whole system feels the effects, and exhibits them in restlessness and irritability, in a morbid self-feeling taking a variety of forms." While it is true that the engrossing cares of professional life, or of a skilled labour, will serve as a partial "vicarious outlet for its energy," in contrast to an idle life, yet this will in no manner acts a substitute for the natural expression of this physiological want. Its constant suppression will tinge the thought and manner of the woman. This is not an unreasonable statement, when we reflect that bodily derangements, not at all serious, will often account for changes in the mind and manner, as well as for the entire mental habit of men otherwise strong. If we contrast her with man in this respect, the chance are infinitely against women in professional life. The penalty of sex is an episode in a man's life. The tribute to his sexuality once paid, he is practically unsexed, and the trained intellectual man moves among women and men with scarcely more than a consciousness of his reproductive faculty. But sex in women is a living presence. From the age of fifteen to that of forty-five, her life is crowded with startling physiological acts. Ovulation, impregnation, conception, gestation, parturition, lactation, and the menopause, contend with each other for supremacy - each act a mystery; each attended with its peculiar peril; and most of them evoking in its behalf the highest efforts of which her physical organization is capable. It will demand genius indeed to enable woman to rival man in the field of labor, and, at the same time, contend with the inexorable law of reproduction.
    Having shown that women are not free agents in the matter of marriage, but do so in obedience to a primal law of their sexual life, we will next consider what are the chance for the married women in professional life. In a physiological study such as this, we will not concern ourselves with the social obstacles a married woman must encounter. We have a right to consider every women who has a husband as either a mother, or liable to become one. Any attempt on the part of a wife to avoid children in order to free herself of that obstacle to professional life would be attended with consequences to her mental and physical health which would seriously impair her usefulness. It broadens and elevates her intellectually and physically. The influence over society reached by wives-mothers is a natural outcome of the stimulus of maternity. The maternal instinct, which lies dormant in the nature of every woman, awakens her mental being into increased activity the moment it is called into life. I think that it is for this reason that frail women, with no knowledge of life, when widowed, often succeed in keeping their families together and providing for them. With the woman who is constantly liable to the demands of a profession, or skilled labor, the maternal affection, anxiety, or care, may intrude at moments when her occupation will demand her highest mental efforts. The manual labor of rearing children the professional woman may delegate to others, but the ceaseless love, care, and forethought, so beautiful in a mother's love, the true woman must assume herself. Physically, children are necessary to the married woman. The sterile wife is constantly exposed to diseases that the fecund wife is comparatively exempt from. The sterile wife is not a normal woman, and sooner or later this physical abnormality finds expression in intellectual peculiarities. Not upon the mind alone, but upon the body as well, does motherhood have a maturing influence. Gestation is nearly the completion of the sexual function. The process involves increase in the size of the heart, and in the volume and strength of nearly all the muscles of the body.  It is evident from this that gestation is not only a functional completion, but it is necessary to structural maturity, and to me it seems a natural corollary that it has an equal effect in increasing mental vigor. Having shown that maternity is necessary to insure mental and bodily health in the mass of women, it is proper for us to ascertain if the last of these conditions - gestation - is not of itself, physically and mentally, an obstacle to professional life in women. The physical incapacity is too evident to need any comment.
    Mentally, the changes undergone are most singular and multiform, and operate upon the cultivated and ignorant alike. Dr. Montgomery, speaking of the nervous irritability of pregnancy, says: "It displays itself under a great variety of forms and circumstances, rendering the female much more excitable and more easily affect by external agencies; especially those which suddenly produce strong mental or moral emotions. Hence the importance of preventing, as far as possible, pregnant women from being exposed to causes likely to distress or otherwise strongly impress their minds." These objective mental conditions described by the author must not be regarded as exceptional; on the contrary, they are classed among the usual symptoms of that condition. Still more marked mental disturbances may occur and are not rare, as in the following quotation from Dr. Storer: "Strange appetites or longings, as they are called, and antipathies, are well known as frequent attendants on pregnancy in many persons." And further: "The evidence that I have now presented proves that the state of pregnancy is one subject to grave mental and physical derangements, giving rise to serious anxieties, and requiring judicious treatment." These mental effects are of minor importance in the relation we are studying, when we consider the fact that absolute insanity may be an accompaniment of either gestation or follow parturition. Dr. Maudsley refers to this as explaining the excess of female insane over that of the other sex.
    Dr. Forbes Winslow draws a startling picture of this catastrophe: "When, after numerous struggles to repress them, the propensities excited into such fearful and almost supernatural activity by ovarian irritation burst forth beyond all control, and the pet of the family is seen to be the opposite, morally, in every respect to what she had been - irreligious, selfish, slanderous, false, malicious, devoid of affection, thievish in a thousand petty ways, bold, maybe erotic, self-willed and quarrelsome; and if the case be not rightly understood, great and often irreparable mischief is done to correct what seems to be vice, but is really insanity."

R.D.Blumenfeld on English Girls

Sunday, June 26, 1887

The river was crowded with rowing boats and punts, and for long distances the banks were lined with houseboats blooming with flowers. The house-boats appear to be the special summer resort of the well-to-do, who live on them throughout the summer. What struck me particularly was the athletic prowess of so many young women, who were astonishingly adept at rowing and punting, and seemed to be quite capable of handling their boats as well as the men. That I take it is the reason why English girls are so fresh complexioned and free in their movements. It is a fact that you see fewer white-lipped and waxed-cheeked girls than anywhere else, in spite of tight-lacing, which is as prevalent here as in France or the United States. But the women play tennis and go for long walks. They are not restricted by convention as in other countries.

Librarians, Stewardesses and Paper Bags

There's a great section in Cassells Household Guide on occupations open to women here
in which I particularly like this advice (my italics):

"The next suggestion is also a valuable one; it is the opening of the situation of librarian to educated gentlewomen, either in public institutions or in private families of rank or wealth. From the reports of the recent Conference of Librarians we learn that the Americans have already set us an example here, and in the Public Library at Boston, U.S., seventy ladies are employed, a few men only being kept to lift the heaviest books on the high shelves. The ladies appear to have given the utmost satisfaction in this position, to which they appear thoroughly suited. The work is such that a lady of good attainments and education could undertake and enjoy. It requires no great physical exertion, no exposure to the weather, and no hardship which the most delicate would shrink from. The salaries in this profession are so limited that they are not sufficient for the support of married men with families, nor are they objects of ambition to the single man with any fairer chances in life; but they would nevertheless form a good provision for a single woman, who, upon even this small pittance, might manage, with economy, to keep herself in comfort and as a gentlewoman."

I find this fascinating because librarianship is now perceived broadly as a 'female' occupation, although - as an erstwhile librarian myself - I can vouch for a few gentlemen lurking in the background (I was never much help with those high shelves, mind). Also, the salary information holds true today, broadly speaking.

Anyway, I just came across a companion piece from 1854 in - regular readers will need no prompting - the Leisure Hour. You can read it all here, if you like. It includes one or two surprising details on women's employment, not least

"A few adventurous females are found bold enough to dare the terrors of the deep, as stewardesses and attendants in passenger vessels"

That actually surprises me. It also includes one odd historical detail that I've never noticed before (one of the joys of reading old Victoriana) ...

"Almost every article purchased in shops is now sent home in paper bags ; and often you receive your change neatly done up in one. The straw bonnet - that truly English and becoming article of attire - that has been platted and made up by a woman's hands, is forwarded to you in a green bag, also made by a woman. So great is the convenience afforded to shopkeepers and others by these bags, that the demand for them is enormous. Tons of paper are daily converted into them, with an economy that wastes not a visible strip."

Next down you're down the shops, demand your change in a paper bag ...