> > 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 the1500s:
> >
> > 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 fall 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
> > entrance way. 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 the upper crust.
> >
> > Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. 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, thread 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 History was
> > boring ! ! !
> >
> > Educate someone. Share these facts with a friend.
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