[DreadVile]

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the
watertemperature 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 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 "threshhold."
* * * * * *

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."
* * * * * *

Now, whoever said that History was boring !

[Hosway[CJP]]

me
_________________

---
Hosway[CJP] is now Doppelgangster.
Come, let's talk with swords!

[JuVaNiLe]

NICE

[Stevo]

You expect us to read all that? Make it a movie and then post it.
_________________

The Official TVR Website
Fopp
Song of the Week

[JuVaNiLe]

um i read it all its very intresting

[(+)ASSASSIN(+)]

Wow things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
_________________
Killing is my bidness ladies and BIDNESS IS GOOD!!!!

[Stevo]

Well, I read it, very interesting to think about. It wasn't as long as I though at first...
_________________

The Official TVR Website
Fopp
Song of the Week

[Violent Pacifist]

Eh, some of those things don't seem likely, but I have heard some of the others before.
_________________

We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.

[Vicoden]

Hey that was some pretty neat stuff, good post!

umm stevo for as much as you spam, you should be the last person to complain about too much to scroll through.....

[Kazebari]

Hehe, that was funny.

[Sully]

That was cool Dread, thanks.
_________________



Sig courtesy of K.R.G.

[Verman]

Thank God it's the 21st century.
Interesting post.
_________________
Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell.

[Stevo]

[GellyRoll]

[sharkbyte]

Pretty good stuff. Thanks.
_________________