cjcj
New member
> >: Just the Facts
> >
> >
> >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 1500s:
> >
> > These are very 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 d irt.
> >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 qu ite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot,
> >peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..
> >
> >
> > & nbsp; 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 ! ! !
> >
> >
> >
> >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 1500s:
> >
> > These are very 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 d irt.
> >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 qu ite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot,
> >peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..
> >
> >
> > & nbsp; 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 ! ! !
> >
elkay
