The British Butler Did It

Have you ever daydreamed that you had a Butler? The very British, staid, solemn and ever-loyal servant who would make your life perfect? I have. Tons of times.

Apparently, lots of people have daydreamed this. There is now a significant upsurge in the number of Butlers in wealthy households. For a time, buttling was fading out of fashion largely due to the shocking expense of it. But in recent years, the Butler schools in this world have thrived.Thanks to NPR, I now know the reason why - in two simple words:

Downton Abbey.

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Yes! The SconeLady pricked up her ears today when she heard all about this on NPR's 'Q Radio', with Jian Ghomeshi. But I nearly fell into the nearby lake when I heard host Jian speaking about 'Downtown Abbey'. DownTOWN? Abbey? TOWN?????? Any Downton enthusiast who hears this will be appalled. 


But I kept listening, only because the guest who was discussing this with Jian (David Katz) knew what he was talking about. He had himself enrolled in a Uniformed Butler School. He found that although Butlers 30 years ago were nearly extinct, they were now in great demand. People everywhere watch and love Downton Abbey, and this has spawned new interest in Carson-like men standing at one's elbow on a permanent basis.

They call it the 'Downton Effect'. 

Lots of newly rich people in China want a Butler. Downton Abbey has a large viewership there and they are all stampeding over to the UK to find a real-life British Butler. Thus, many new 'Uniformed Butler' schools are up and running! (I'm not sure where all this new money is coming from, but am uneasy that it might be from all those exports to the USA. Don't we owe rather a lot to the Chinese?? Ummm..).

I don't really know where I am going with this one except to say that any friend of Downton Abbey is a friend of mine. In fact, I feel rather good that these exporters have taken a liking to my favorite program on Masterpiece. It is hard to fathom, but maybe it's a smaller world than I thought. 

Perhaps the Brits can be the glue here, after all. And I, for one, say a right 'Jolly Good!', to that!

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See you along they way!
the SconeLady


photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24842486@N07/8522035379/">e r j k p r u n c z y k</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirudhkoul/3499471010/">Anirudh Koul</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>