posted June 13, 2003 09:20 AM         

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.
>
>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 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, 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, 1out
>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...
>(who said that History was boring)?

posted June 13, 2003 02:48 PM         

9 day old soup?!... JEEZ!

posted June 13, 2003 04:34 PM         

"Well you know what thought did....followed a muck cart and thought it was a wedding"

Now what's that saying all about - never did get the "drift" of that one

Nuther one.....

"You'll be laughing on the other side of your face"

posted June 14, 2003 02:24 AM         

"Train of thought" (as in losing one's...)

Locomotive gone AWOL? A derailment? The part of a long dress that sweeps the floor, fallen off?

Gahhh...

posted September 29, 2007 03:03 PM         

Anyone have more neat ones to add?

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~