And don't send them to anyone in your address book!
Here's one I got from my uncle. Anyone care to dispute/verify any of the claims?
--------------------------
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 the 1500s:
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
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
a 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."
(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
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 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
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 ! ! !
Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend
Here's one I got from my uncle. Anyone care to dispute/verify any of the claims?
--------------------------
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 the 1500s:
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
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
a 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."
(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
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 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
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 ! ! !
Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend
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