Re: History

[Guest guest]

Anne,

You are so right! History is not boring. I am just so thankful I

didn't live during those times! Like I have always heard " If you look

hard enough you can always find something to be thankful for. "

God bless,

Belinda

> > 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: Most people got married in

June,

> > because they took their yearly bath

> > in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, as time

passed

> > they

> > were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to

hide

> > the

> > body odor. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.

> > The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water;

> followed

> > by

> > his sons, and other men living under the same roof. Then came the

women

> > and

> > finally the children. Last of all were 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, thus came the saying, " It's raining cats and dogs. "

> >

> > There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house

either.

> > 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 slat 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 creating a " thresh hold. "

> >

> > In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle

that

> > always

> > hung over the fire. Every day they lighted the fire and added

things to

> > the

> > pot. They ate mostly vegetables without much meat. They would eat

the

> > stew

> > for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight,

then

> > start

> > over the next day. Often times the kettle contained the same stew

for

> > quite

> > a while, hence the rhyme, " peas porridge hot, peas porridge

cold, peas

> > porridge in the pot nine days old. "

> >

> > Families that could obtain pork considered themselves quite

special.

> When

> > visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was

> an

> > outward sign of wealth that a man could " bring home the bacon. "

Another

> > indication was to cut off a sliver of bacon to share with guests

and

> sit

> > around to " chew the fat. "

> >

> > Those with money had plates made of pewter. Unknowingly at the

time,

> food

> > with a 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.

> Most

> > people did not have pewter plates, but

> > had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a

bowl.

> > Often trenchers were made from stale bread, which was so old and

hard

> > that

> > they could be reused for quite some time. Trenchers were never

washed,

> > and

> > worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off

wormy,

> > moldy trenchers, one would get " trench mouth. "

> >

> > 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 whiskey. The combination would

> > sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking

along

> > roadside would often take them for dead, and prepare them for

burial.

> The

> > " deceased " were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of

days, and

> > families would gather around, and eat, drink and wait to see if

the

> party

> > would wake up, thus began the custom of holding a " wake. "

> >

> > England is old and small, and the locals started running out of

places

> to

> > bury people. They would dig up coffins and would take the bones

to a

> > " bone-house " and reuse the grave. When reopening coffins, 1 out

of 25

> > coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside. Realizing

they

> > had

> > been burying people alive came the thought of

> > looping a string around the wrist of the corpse, through a hole

in the

> > coffin, and up through the ground attached to a bell. Someone

had to

> sit

> > 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, folks. Who said History was boring.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >