T

he 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:

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
       dogs, 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
       real problem in the bedroom where bugs and
       other droppings could really 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 the
       floor to help keep their footing.
       As the winter wore on, they kept adding 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."

       * * * * * *

       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 the 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 and
       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 them 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
       thought 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 ! ! ! ! !
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