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<DIV>humorous if not accurate</DIV>
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<DIV>
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > LIFE IN THE 1500'S
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > The next time you are washing your hands and
<DIV></DIV>>complain because the
<DIV></DIV>>water
<DIV></DIV>> > temperature isn't just how you like it, think about
<DIV></DIV>>how things used
<DIV></DIV>>to be.
<DIV></DIV>>Here
<DIV></DIV>> > are some facts about the1500s:
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Most people got married in June because they took
<DIV></DIV>>their yearly bath
<DIV></DIV>>in
<DIV></DIV>>May, and
<DIV></DIV>> > still smelled pretty good by June.
<DIV></DIV>> > However, they were starting to smell, so brides
<DIV></DIV>>carried a bouquet of
<DIV></DIV>>flowers to
<DIV></DIV>> > hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of
<DIV></DIV>>carrying a bouquet when
<DIV></DIV>>getting
<DIV></DIV>> > married.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
<DIV></DIV>>The man of the
<DIV></DIV>>house
<DIV></DIV>>had the
<DIV></DIV>> > privilege of the nice clean water, then all the
<DIV></DIV>>other sons and men,
<DIV></DIV>>then
<DIV></DIV>>the
<DIV></DIV>> > women and finally the children. Last of all the
<DIV></DIV>>babies. By then the
<DIV></DIV>>water
<DIV></DIV>>was
<DIV></DIV>> > so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
<DIV></DIV>>Hence the saying,
<DIV></DIV>>"Don't
<DIV></DIV>>throw
<DIV></DIV>> > the baby out with the bath water."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high,
<DIV></DIV>>with no wood
<DIV></DIV>>underneath.
<DIV></DIV>>It
<DIV></DIV>> > was the only place for animals to get warm, so all
<DIV></DIV>>the cats and other
<DIV></DIV>>small
<DIV></DIV>> > animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it
<DIV></DIV>>rained it became
<DIV></DIV>>slippery
<DIV></DIV>>and
<DIV></DIV>> > sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof.
<DIV></DIV>>Hence the saying
<DIV></DIV>>"It's
<DIV></DIV>> > raining cats and dogs."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > There was nothing to stop things from falling into
<DIV></DIV>>the house.
<DIV></DIV>> > This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs
<DIV></DIV>>and other
<DIV></DIV>>droppings
<DIV></DIV>>could
<DIV></DIV>> > mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big
<DIV></DIV>>posts and a sheet
<DIV></DIV>>hung
<DIV></DIV>>over
<DIV></DIV>> > the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy
<DIV></DIV>>beds came into
<DIV></DIV>>existence.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something
<DIV></DIV>>other than dirt.
<DIV></DIV>>Hence
<DIV></DIV>>the
<DIV></DIV>> > saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors
<DIV></DIV>>that would get
<DIV></DIV>>slippery
<DIV></DIV>>in the
<DIV></DIV>> > winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on
<DIV></DIV>>floor to help keep
<DIV></DIV>>their
<DIV></DIV>> > footing. As the winter wore on, they adding more
<DIV></DIV>>thresh until when
<DIV></DIV>>you
<DIV></DIV>>opened
<DIV></DIV>> > the door it would all start slipping outside.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence
<DIV></DIV>>the saying a
<DIV></DIV>>"thresh
<DIV></DIV>>hold."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > (Getting quite an education, aren't you???)
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a
<DIV></DIV>>big kettle that
<DIV></DIV>>always hung
<DIV></DIV>> > over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added
<DIV></DIV>>things to the
<DIV></DIV>>pot.
<DIV></DIV>>They
<DIV></DIV>> > ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat.
<DIV></DIV>>They would eat the
<DIV></DIV>>stew
<DIV></DIV>>for
<DIV></DIV>> > dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
<DIV></DIV>>overnight and then
<DIV></DIV>>start
<DIV></DIV>>over
<DIV></DIV>> > the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had
<DIV></DIV>>been there for
<DIV></DIV>>quite
<DIV></DIV>>a
<DIV></DIV>> > while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas
<DIV></DIV>>porridge cold, peas
<DIV></DIV>>porridge
<DIV></DIV>> > in the pot nine days old."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them
<DIV></DIV>>feel quite special.
<DIV></DIV>>When
<DIV></DIV>> > visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon
<DIV></DIV>>to show off. It
<DIV></DIV>>was a
<DIV></DIV>>sign
<DIV></DIV>> > of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon."
<DIV></DIV>>They would cut off
<DIV></DIV>>a
<DIV></DIV>>little
<DIV></DIV>> > to share with guests and would all sit around and
<DIV></DIV>>"chew the fat."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food
<DIV></DIV>>with high acid
<DIV></DIV>>content
<DIV></DIV>>caused
<DIV></DIV>> > some of the lead to leach onto the
<DIV></DIV>> > food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened
<DIV></DIV>>most often with
<DIV></DIV>>tomatoes, so
<DIV></DIV>> > for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
<DIV></DIV>>considered poisonous.
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Bread was divided according to status. Workers got
<DIV></DIV>>the burnt bottom
<DIV></DIV>>of the
<DIV></DIV>>loaf,
<DIV></DIV>> > the family got the middle, and guests got the top,
<DIV></DIV>>or "upper crust."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The
<DIV></DIV>>combination would
<DIV></DIV>>sometimes
<DIV></DIV>> > knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone
<DIV></DIV>>walking along
<DIV></DIV>>the
<DIV></DIV>>road
<DIV></DIV>> > would take them for dead and prepare them for
<DIV></DIV>>burial. They were laid
<DIV></DIV>>out
<DIV></DIV>>on the
<DIV></DIV>> > kitchen table for a couple of days and the family
<DIV></DIV>>would gather around
<DIV></DIV>>and
<DIV></DIV>>eat
<DIV></DIV>> > and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
<DIV></DIV>>Hence the custom of
<DIV></DIV>>holding a
<DIV></DIV>> > "wake."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > England is old and small and the local folks started
<DIV></DIV>>running out of
<DIV></DIV>>places
<DIV></DIV>>to
<DIV></DIV>> > bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would
<DIV></DIV>>take the bones to
<DIV></DIV>>a
<DIV></DIV>> > "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening
<DIV></DIV>>these coffins, 1 out
<DIV></DIV>>of
<DIV></DIV>>25
<DIV></DIV>> > coffins were found to have scratch marks on the
<DIV></DIV>>inside and they
<DIV></DIV>>realized
<DIV></DIV>>they
<DIV></DIV>> > had been burying people alive. So they would tie a
<DIV></DIV>>string on the
<DIV></DIV>>wrist of
<DIV></DIV>>the
<DIV></DIV>> > corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through
<DIV></DIV>>the ground and tie
<DIV></DIV>>it to
<DIV></DIV>>a
<DIV></DIV>> > bell.
<DIV></DIV>> > Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all
<DIV></DIV>>night (the
<DIV></DIV>>"graveyard
<DIV></DIV>>shift")
<DIV></DIV>> > to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be
<DIV></DIV>>"saved by the bell" or
<DIV></DIV>>was
<DIV></DIV>> > considered a "dead
<DIV></DIV>> > ringer."
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > And that's the truth...Now ,whoever said that
<DIV></DIV>>History was boring???
<DIV></DIV>> >
<DIV></DIV>> > Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend..
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>__________________________________________________
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