I got these from a friend, enjoy!
These have been around before, but it’s been a while.
>
>
>> \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 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
>> poi soning death. This happened m ost 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 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 woul d 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 History was boring ! ! !
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