The next time you are washing your hands and complain
because the water
>temperature isn't just how you like it, think about
how things used to be.
>Here are some facts about the 1500's:
>
>These are interesting...
>
>Most people got married in June because they took
their yearly bath in May,
>and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they
were starting to smell,
>so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the
body odor. Hence the
>custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting
married.
>
>Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
The man of the house had
>the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the
other sons and men, then
>the women and finally the children Last of all
>the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could
actually lose someone
>in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out
with the bath water."
>
>Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high,
with no wood underneath.
>It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all
the cats and other
>small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it
rained it became
>slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and off
the roof. Hence the
>saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
>
>There was nothing to stop things from falling into
the house. This posed a
>real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other
droppings could mess up
>your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and
a sheet hung over the
>top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds
came into existence.
>
>The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something
other than dirt. Hence
>the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors
that would get slippery
>in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw)
on floor to help keep
>their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more
thresh until when you
>opened the door it would all start slipping outside.
A piece of wood was
>placed in the entranceway.
>Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
>
>(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)
>
>In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a
big kettle that always
>hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and
added things to the pot.
>They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much
meat. They would eat the
>stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get
cold overnight and then
>start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in
it that had been there
>for quite a while.
>Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge
cold, peas porridge in
>the pot nine days old."
>
>Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them
feel quite special. When
>visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to
show off. It was a
>sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the
bacon." They would cut off a
>little to share with guests and would all sit around
and "chew the fat."
>
>Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with
high acid content
>caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,
causing lead poisoning
>death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for
the next 400 years or
>so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
>
>Bread was divided according to status. Workers got
the burnt bottom of the
>loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the
top, or "upper crust."
>
>Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The
combination would sometimes
>knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone
walking along the road
>would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.
They were laid out on
>the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family
would gather around
>and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake
up. Hence the custom
>of holding a "wake."
>
>England is old and small and the local folks started
running out of places
>to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and
would take the bones to a
>"bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening
these coffins, 1 out of 25
>coffins were found to have scratch marks on the
inside and they realized
>they had been burying people alive. So they would tie
a string on the wrist
>of the corpse, lead it through
>the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a
bell. Someone would
>have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the
"graveyard shift") to listen
>for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the
bell" or was considered
>a "dead ringer."
>
>And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that
History was boring ! ! !