Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Not sure if all of these facts are true or not but it makes for an interesting read.
History Facts 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.
He 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 offa 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 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, 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 !
History Facts 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.
He 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 offa 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 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, 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 !
