What kind of career choices did poor women have in the 19th century? Not many. Prostitution was one. Laundress was another. Suzette, as you know, tried both.
Working conditions as a laundress were appalling. Pay was a pittance of 3.75 francs per day, compared to other well-paying jobs such as a teacher who earned 14 per day and a Parisian department store employee earning 70 per day. Hours were a grueling 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Most lived between two rooms - the one they slept in and the one they worked in. The heat of washing and ironing created a breeding den of germs, and most succumbed to sicknesses such as bronchitis and tuberculosis and other life-threatening illnesses.
What kind of jobs were in laundry houses? There were ironers, who did nothing but work in scorching heat using six to seven pound irons. Some women worked on very delicate objects such as bonnets, blouses, and shirt fronts, while others were relegated to ironing sheets, table cloths, and curtains.
The washerwoman, however, was the one who traversed the streets of Paris with 20-30 pounds of laundry on her hip, like Suzette, servicing various customers. When she returned to the wash house, she had to fight for space in the wash tubs. More high end jobs were those who were seamstresses who mended clothes.
The practice of providing alcohol (wine and brandy in canteens) for the workers and opening the windows and doors so they could work scantly clad to deal with the heat, was in fact a practice that any passerby could enjoy as entertainment. As you can surmise, it was mostly men getting peaks of bosoms and bottoms. It was a hard life. Many became alcoholics and/or chronically ill in order to survive. They considered themselves lucky to find work, otherwise the alternatives were even bleaker.
Many famous artists of the day, such as Degas and Renoir, portrayed the difficult occupation in art.
What would you have chosen in Suzette's position? The washhouse or the brothel?
