Charwoman

A 1943 photograph of a charwoman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

A charwoman, char or (ironically or in genteel phrasing) charlady is an English cleaning woman who can be employed in houses, shops and/or office buildings. The term charwoman was also used as an official job title in the United States before 1960, which included use by municipal and state governments and by federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor (such in in the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Immigration). Charwomen where often commonly referred to as scrubwomen. The word has the same root as "chore woman", one hired to do odd chores around the house.

Description

A char or chare was a turn (of work) in the sixteenth century,^[1] which gave rise to the word being used as a prefix to denote people working in domestic service. The usage of "charwoman" was common in the mid-19th century, often appearing as an occupation in the English census of 1841, but it fell out of common use in the later decades of the 20th century, often replaced by the term "daily (woman)". Unlike a maid or housekeeper, typically live-in positions, the charwoman usually worked for hourly wages, usually on a part-time basis, often having several different employers.

Fiction

The position often features in fiction.

One notable character is Ebeneezer Scrooge's charwoman Mrs. Dilber who appears in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

In 1926, Lord Dunsany's fantasy novel, The Charwoman's Shadow was published to good reviews.

Another well-known fictional charwoman is Ada Harris, the central character in Paul Gallico's novel Mrs 'Arris goes to Paris and its three sequels.

In the British radio comedy series It's That Man Again, Dorothy Summers played the part of Mrs Mopp, an office char whose catch phrase was "Can I do you now, Sir?" (i.e., "May I clean your office now, Sir?" but with an obvious double entendre).

A charwoman appears in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915).^[2]

In the short story "The Diary of Anne Rodway", by Wilkie Collins, Anne investigates the murder of her friend Mary and learns that the suspect's wife is a woman "ready to turn her hand to anything: charing, washing, laying-out, keeping empty houses...."

A charwoman - Sarah Cobbin - is a critical character in the detective novel, Part for a Poisoner (1948) by E.C.R. Lorac

Motion pictures also had its share of charwoman characters. The best example of this is probably the series of films that featured the funny and feisty Irish charwoman Mrs. Riley, a creation of the music hall comedian Arthur Lucan. The public's enthusiasm for his impromptu stage character prompted him to make her a part of his repertoire and this led to his starring in sixteen Old Mother Riley films, from 1937 to 1952.

In 1963, Peggy Mount starred as charwoman Mrs. Cragg in Ladies Who Do, a film in which a group of charwomen unite and go into high finance under the guidance of the eccentric Colonel Whitforth Robert Morley, in order to save their old neighbourhood from a team of ruthless developers led by Harry H. Corbett.

In 1966-67, actress Kathleen Harrison starred as a Alice Thursday, a charwoman, who inherits a ₤10 million from her employe, on the British television series, Mrs. Thursday.

U.S. comedian Carol Burnett made a charwoman character into a signature routine during her television career with Garry Moore and later on her own popular long-running variety show.

In the comic strip Andy Capp, Andy's wife Flo is a charwoman.

References

Look up charwoman in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.