Did you know...? > > > > Life in the 1500's: > > > > Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath = in May > >and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting > to > >smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the B. O. Baths > >equaled 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 pets > . > >. . dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, 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. So, they found if they made beds with big = posts > and > >hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence those > beautiful > >big 4 poster beds with canopies. > > > > The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence > >the saying "dirt poor". The wealthy had slate floors which would get > >slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh 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. Apiece = of > wood > >was placed at the entry way hence a "thresh hold." > > > > They cooked in the kitchen in a big kettle that always hung over the fire. > >Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They mostly = ate > >vegetables and didn't 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 in there = for a > >month. Hence the rhyme: "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas > >porridge in the pot nine days old." > > > > Sometimes they could obtain pork and would feel really special when > > that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon > and > >hang it to show it off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could > really > >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 a high acid content > >caused some of the lead to leach onto the food. This happened most often > >with tomatoes, so they stopped eating tomatoes . > > . . for 400 years. Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had > >trenchers-a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. > Trenchers > >were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating > >off wormy trenchers, they would get "trench mouth." > > > > 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 the "upper > crust." > > > > Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. 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 they started running out of places to = bury > >people. So they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house > >and re-use the grave. In reopening these coffins, one 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 = their > wrist > >and 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 to listen > for > >the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was > >"saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer."