"Hot and cold running servants"

[Olympian]

Hello,

I came across the following in a TV serial:

She may have been America's tragic heiress, but she sure
knew how to throw a party.

Look at these photos--hot and cold running servants,
fine food, champagne and wine. That must have been
something to see.
​

I did a Google search for 'hot and cold running servants' and came across a link that talks about plumbing in the fifteenth century: "

The piped water to the tubs ended in sculpted brass taps for hot and cold running water, complementing the ​

hot and cold running servants

filling the tanks."​

So, I take it that the 'hot and cold running servants' filled the hot and cold water tanks. But I did not understand how the characters in the TV serial knew this by looking at the photos. They did not show the photos in the serial, but perhaps the photos showed servants filling in the hot and cold tanks, and that is how they know?

Thank you

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello,

I came across the following in a TV serial:

She may have been America's tragic heiress, but she sure
knew how to throw a party.

Look at these photos--hot and cold running servants,
fine food, champagne and wine. That must have been
something to see.
​

I did a Google search for 'hot and cold running servants' and came across a link that talks about plumbing in the fifteenth century: "

The piped water to the tubs ended in sculpted brass taps for hot and cold running water, complementing the ​

hot and cold running servants

filling the tanks."​

So, I take it that the 'hot and cold running servants' filled the hot and cold water tanks. But I did not understand how the characters in the TV serial knew this by looking at the photos. They did not show the photos in the serial, but perhaps the photos showed servants filling in the hot and cold tanks, and that is how they know?

Thank you

That is a humorous statement. When living quarters developed hot and cold running water, it was a major change and a major convenience. These days, when one encounters a mansion with many servants or a party with many servers, one could say (tongue in cheek), "This place has hot and cold running servants."

 

[Olympian]

That is a humorous statement. When living quarters developed hot and cold running water, it was a major change and a major convenience. These days, when on encounters a mansion with many servants or a party with many servers, one could say (tongue in cheek), "This place has hot and cold running servants."

@MikeNewYork, I missed the humour, although I did think it was a bit strange and wondered if it should have been 'compliment' instead of 'complement'. Now I understand it was meant to be humorous.

Thanks for the explanation about mansions with many servants. Actually, I was wondering because the mansion in the serial was not that old and it might have had running water (although I don't really know when running water was available in the US without the help of the servants filling the tanks).

 

[MikeNewYork]

@MikeNewYork, I missed the humour, although I did think it was a bit strange and wondered if it should have been 'compliment' instead of 'complement'. Now I understand it was meant to be humorous.

Thanks for the explanation about mansions with many servants. Actually, I was wondering because the mansion in the serial was not that old and it might have had running water (although I don't really know when running water was available in the US without the help of the servants filling the tanks).

I hope I didn't mislead you. I did not mean to imply that these servants were filling water tanks, only that there were so many they were all over the place.