Beware Beware
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** 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:
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 ! ! !
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:
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 ! ! !