What time of the day did work for professional & clerical jobs begin & end 100, 200 & 300 years ago?

[Peter_Morris]

@aceplace57

I recall one of my high school American history books had a copy of rules for a general store about 1880. IIRCC it was a mid west state like Kansas. It was brutal. They had to be at work early 5:00 and open by 6. Sweep floors,dust, wear suits regardless of how hot it was. The list just went on and on. I recall thinking a job on a family farm would be better.

I’ve tried googling that list of rules. Without more info it’s impossible. I wish I could find that list of rules. It makes office work today seem like paradise.

It isn’t real.

See here Is the 'Rules for Teachers - 1872' List Real? | Snopes.com

[a35362]

Well, his was for a general store, not for teachers.

[a35362]

Ahem, so it does refer to a list for general stores farther down the page. Sorry!

:o

[Acsenray]

@aceplace57

I recall one of my high school American history books had a copy of rules for a general store about 1880.

A lot of these lists are hoaxes.

@Nava

When Littlebro came to visit me in Glasgow (not exactly a city reputed by its sunshine), the first morning he woke up, puttered around for a while, and then came into the living room and said “I know you’re half-hen, but how the hell is a normal person expected to live like this? I thought it was at least 8 and it’s 4-effing-a-m!”

I don’t get it. A Spaniard found Glasgow too hot at 4 in the morning? Hens like hot places?

[Pleonast]

@acsenray

I don’t get it. A Spaniard found Glasgow too hot at 4 in the morning? Hens like hot places?

Too bright. Hens get up early, like roosters do.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@md2000

Presumably you left enough time for the workers to eat and commute, unless you were paying them a wage that allowed them to afford candles at home to have breakfast and dinner by. Bob Cratchit eating a hearty dinner by a roaring fire suggests firewood was pretty cheap in the middle of a giant city tens of miles from any forest. I doubt it. Fuel was likely a problem even then.

London is surprisingly green for a city of its size, and logging was allowed in places like Richmond (Great) Park right up to the turn of the century. In any event, I suspect Bob Cratchit would have mostly burned coal in his fireplace.

[Peter_Morris]

@md2000

Bob Cratchit eating a hearty dinner by a roaring fire suggests firewood was pretty cheap in the middle of a giant city tens of miles from any forest. I doubt it. Fuel was likely a problem even then.

They used coal.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

Or peat.

[Mr.Excellent]

Or crutches!

[Mk_VII]

Samuel Pepys’s staff in the Navy Office were doing clerical work in the 17th c. I don’t have time to go through the diary but there are plenty of references to the working routine. Pepys eventually gave up writing the diary in the belief that he was going blind. Candle light made his eyes ache increasingly as he got older and the optical aids of the period could not cure his problems (which probably involved astigmatism).

[Nava]

@Pleonast

Too bright. Hens get up early, like roosters do.

What he said.