[Sca-cooks] ELIZABETHAN KITCHEN

Wed Apr 23 14:43:36 PDT 2003

What a good thought!! Why didn't *I* think of that?
Phillipa
----- Original Message -----
From: "ED Reese" <edreese at m7bedlam.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 4:35 PM
Subject: Re: Re: [Sca-cooks] ELIZABETHAN KITCHEN


> --
> Okay, I'll phrase this as a question, instead of a sweeping generality, as
> I am oft prone to do! :-)
>
> Would the fact (if it IS a fact) that children/teens were servants in the
> kitchen have affected the height of the tables?
>
> Esther
>
> At 04:08 PM 4/23/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
> > >
> > > From: "Leah A. Montgomery" <mog_bane at hotmail.com>
> > > Date: 2003/04/22 Tue PM 10:57:47 EDT
> > > To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> > > Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] ELIZABETHAN KITCHEN
> > >
> > >    I don't have any concrete evidence myself, but I do know that
people
> > have
> > > grown considerably just in the past 70 yrs or so. I remember talking
to my
> > > mom a few years ago about all the people that wore larger size shoes,
ie:
> > > 12-13-14 etc. She didn't think that this was possible and that they
had
> > > changed shoe sizes. I asked her to name for me every single one of the
> > > people that she knew that was 6 foot or over when she was my age. She
> > > immediately rattled off one name and said that she would always
> > remember him
> > > cause he was so much taller than every one else. He was only 6'1". Of
> > > course, I then rattled off about a dozen names, all of them over 6'1".
How
> > > many people today are over 7 feet tall that would have had severe
physical
> > > problems 20-25 years ago that don't have anything wrong with them?
> > >    I know that there are resources and studies out there that show
just how
> > > much we have grown and height ratios compared to people of all time
> > periods,
> > > I just can't find any right now.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Leah A. Montgomery
> >
> >
> >     A quick perusal on the web well help in this matter, but what is
more
> > important is when to when, and what are you calling large height
> > differences.  This is a common question where I work and at many other
> > Historic sites as well.
> >
> >    Height varies with time and place, it is NOT a general evolutionary
> > increase.  There is a documented increase of average height for
Americans
> > over the last 50 years by about an inch and one half, but the average
> > height of an American soldier fighting in the American Revolution was
> > only and inch different from the average height of the American Soldier
> > fighting in Korea.  That being said, through much of the 19th century
the
> > Average height declined though I do not have specific figures.  As far
as
> > people over 6 feet tall, apparently your mom would consider Colonial
> > people to be guiants as I can name  three famous Virginia's of the
period
> > that were all taller than me.  Give me time for research and I could
> > probably name a dozen.  (I am 6'2").
> >
> >     As far as architecture, that is a tricky subject, as far more than
> > comfort is considered when building, and our preceptions of comfort have
> > changed.
> >
> >     At work we do have several doors that are to short for me, we have
> > several far taller than I need (people must have changed height as they
> > walked through town).  Ceiling height here in the homes that have
> > survived tends to be very high, far higher than most modern houses,
> > though about the same as my turn of last century home.  Yet houses of
the
> > same period as these in Massachussetts often have much lower
> > ceilings.  This is not because of a difference in height between New
> > Englanders and Virginians, but due to climate differences.  I suspect if
> > more poorer sorts of homes had survived in Virginia we might again see
> > ceiling height differences as builiding costs also are altered.
> >
> >    I have often heard the retort, "well then why are the beds so
> > short".  Well even with the possible alterations in sleeping habits that
> > I have heard bandied about, there is no original bed where I work (18th
> > century) that is too short for my 6'2" height.  Most of them just appear
> > short since they do not correspond with any of our modern bed
> > dimensions.  (Much higher and narrower).
> >
> >Ranald
> >
> >R.Carnegie at verizon.net
> >"Argue for your limitations, and they are yours."
> >              R. Bach
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Sca-cooks mailing list
> >Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> >http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks
> >
> >
> >
> >---
> >Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
> >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> >Version: 6.0.474 / Virus Database: 272 - Release Date: 4/18/2003
> --
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.474 / Virus Database: 272 - Release Date: 4/18/2003
> --
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks
>
>