>> > LIFE IN THE 1500's
>> >
>> > 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 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
>> 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
>> History was boring ! ! !
>> >
>> > Educate someone. Share these facts with a
>> friend