This is an important work written in the early 1900s about choosing a household staff, what to look for, and what questions to ask. Through this work, Helene Barker also attacks the Washington D.C. laws regulating industrial cleaning employees but neglecting domestic cleaning employees who were 'abused' by lack of regulations that led to unfair pay, extraordinarily long work days, and sometimes harsh demands by the employer. The references to the events of the time in the U.S. made this work historically significant.