… throughout the Victorian Era. While the main job of middle class women in the 1840’s was to be the social representative for their husband, most did not have a serving woman to help them get dressed. These cartoons from 1830 (left) and 1840 (right) indicate that most likely the young husband in upwardly social climbing households was put to work in “Le Matin” as the cartoon is called (“The Morning”) until they could afford a housemaid.
(Buffalo Gals note here – yes, you do need assistance in this era to get dressed!)