National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Historical Overview
given with the same degree of equality. 396 Perhaps due to factors such as the Vanderbilts'
seasonal residency and certainly due to Louise's death in 1926, the Vanderbilts did not always
see that employees received equal perquisites.
Estate staff members were paid on a monthly basis, with some positions salaried and
some hourly. Shears "paid out" his men and sent the payroll to the mansion for distribution
near the close of the first week each month. Shears submitted his payroll records to Mr.
Vanderbilt's New York City office and paid the staff in cash, presumably following a deposit in
the Poughkeepsie account by Vanderbilt. 397 Despite competitive wages, some families on the
estate supplemented their income with boarders or odd jobs. This was particularly true for
employees in the lower ranks of the staff. Mrs. Theresa Farley, referring to her husband's salary
as houseman, noted,
Well, we had to stint all sorts of ways . . . because I was able to do my own sewing and
everything like that we would have been able to live. Only through the kindness of Mrs.
Vanderbilt by coming down and giving the children tips, and she would give Mr. Farley tips
no matter what little thing he done for her. 398
Staff who had direct contact with the family and their guests received tips, as noted by Peggy
Newman, who described her husband's tips as a necessary supplement to her family's income. 399
Edith Wharton's impoverished heroine, Lily Bart, also notes the obligation to tip servants:
there's a tax to pay on every one of those luxuries. The man pays it by big tips to servants, by
playing cards beyond his means, by flowers and presents . . . the girl pays it by tips and cards
too. . . . 400
In addition to their pay and tips, employees who lived on the estate received produce,
dairy, eggs, poultry, ice, firewood, and coal in addition to their free housing. 401 Peggy Newman
fondly recalled the regular deliveries of produce from the estate to her family:
there were fruit by the bushel basket on the back porch. There would be tomatoes and all
kinds of vegetables and all kinds of beans and Addie used to can everything for the
wintertime. It was quite a place once upon a time. 402
Staff housing was generally given to employees at the mid- or upper levels of the staff hierarchy,
particularly to men with families. Most of the domestic staff received a single or shared room in
the service areas of the mansion as well as their meals and a uniform for work.
Holiday bonuses and gifts for staff were a long-standing tradition of estate life. The
Vanderbilts gave a turkey to all married male employees at Thanksgiving, and single men
received five dollars. At Christmas, Louise gave each employee with a family $50. Frederick's
usual gift at Christmas was $50 to each man on the household staff, gifts to the female household
staff, and $10 to the farm, park, and garden men. 403 Alex Knauss, greenhouse man, remembered,
"For Thanksgiving, all the employees got a turkey and then Christmas, they got ten dollars -
396
Fogel, 23.
397
Herbert Shears, April 1,1903.
398
Theresa Farley.
399
Peggy Newman.
400
Wharton, The House of Mirth, 266.
401
Peggy Newman, 19.
402
Peggy Newman, 10.
403
Snell, "Master Plan Development Outline," VII, 3.
80