Annie Was a Wonder

[first lines]

Narrator:
We take this story from a time now gone from the American passing parade forever, the day of the hired girl. Before the First World War, 45,000 lonely immigrant girls arrived each year. Their wages were fifteen dollars a month. They worked 84 hours a week, 14 hours a day. Whatever their names, Bridgette or Herta or Mary or Helga, they were, in a way, the last wave of pioneers seeking a new world. Our first one was Annie Swenson, from Vallborg, Sweden. We'd never had a servant before. Annie was hired only because mother was expecting a new baby.

[last lines]

Narrator:
The gates to the old world are pretty well closed now, and all those Annies, Bridgettes, Mittels, Marys, Helgas, Noras, Hildas, and Hertas have disappeared into the heart of the land. They became the neighbor down the street or the farmer's wife in the middle west, as did Annie, for Annie was a wonder in the passing parade.