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<DIV><SPAN class=343271901-10052005></SPAN><FONT face=Arial>M<SPAN
class=343271901-10052005>y mother sends me the most interesting things. Have
fun.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=343271901-10052005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=343271901-10052005>Meraud</SPAN><SPAN
class=343271901-10052005> </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=343271901-10052005></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
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<DIV><FONT color=#0080c0><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">LIFE IN THE
1500'S<BR><BR>Interesting!<BR><BR>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:<BR><BR>These are interesting...<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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<SPAN class=343271901-10052005><FONT face=Arial
color=#000000> </FONT></SPAN>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."<BR><BR>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 off the
roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>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.<SPAN class=343271901-10052005><FONT face=Arial
color=#000000> </FONT></SPAN>Hence the saying a "thresh
hold."<BR><BR>(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)<BR><BR>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.<BR>Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge
cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."<BR><BR>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 hence
the saying, "chew the fat."<BR><BR>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, hence
tomatoes were considered poisonous.<BR><BR>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 hence "upper
crust."<BR><BR>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."<BR><BR>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<SPAN class=343271901-10052005><FONT
face=Arial color=#000000> </FONT></SPAN>the coffin and up
through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit
out in the graveyard all night (hence the "graveyard shift") to
listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or
was considered a "dead ringer."<BR><BR>And that's the truth... Now,
whoever said that History was boring ! ! !<SPAN
class=343271901-10052005><FONT face=Arial
color=#000000> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0080c0><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><SPAN
class=343271901-10052005> </SPAN><BR>Educate someone...Share
these facts with a friend<BR></DIV></FONT></FONT>
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