The Second Man

THIS may be a house footman exclusively; or, as is most frequently the case, it can be one who, besides assisting the butler, appears on the box of the mistress' carriage when she drives, serving then in the capacity of carriage groom and wearing the regular livery of a carriage groom or over his house livery, in cold weather, he puts a long coat such as the coachman wears and dons gloves and hat to match the coachman's. The second man in the house assists the butler by answering the door bell when that functionary is off duty or busy, by washing dishes in the butler's pantry and washing windows; by building and tending the fires, caring for the front steps and veranda, polishing brasses and taking part in the care of the silver. At dinner and for luncheon parties the second man aids the butler also in waiting at table. He should be clean-shaven and wear his hair closely trimmed. His shoes are such as the butler wears, and his livery is not changed in the evening. This consists of coat and trousers of one color; the coat is swallow-tail in cut and is ornamented on the tails, on the cuffs, and down the front with brass or silver buttons. Both coat and trousers should be of the livery color chosen by the heads of the house-dark green, blue, brown, or deep plum color, with the outside edge of the trouser legs piped in yellow or red. A waistcoat of Valencia striped in lateral, alternate bars of dark green and yellow or dark brown and red, in accordance with the two colors that appear on the coat and trousers, shows between the open fronts of the coat, and buttons high. White linen, a standing collar, and a white tie are worn with this costume."

You need to watch more Upstairs/Downstairs I guess.

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