[Bordermarch] Cool History

[Mark Masters]

>Cool History
>
>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: 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. That
>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."
>
>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 them 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? ;)
>Thanks,

_________________________________________________________________
Cheer a special someone with a fun Halloween eCard from American Greetings! 
Go to  http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/index_msn.pd?source=msne134