This is off- topic messages. Please do not continue this thread! Jerri Chasteen List Owner CCCharlie1@aol.com wrote: > I thought the article was so funny, I didn't care whether or not it was all > 100% true. > I forwarded it to some friends, and one sent this note back to me: > > Add In: > > Tables were merely a frame with loose boards placed over them. > When meals were done, instead of wiping off the boards, they were > flipped upside down so that all the crumbs and other loose foods > could fall to the floor where resident creatures would eat them. > Usually there were few designated places to sit except for the chair > belonging to the master of the house. The man would sit in his chair > for his meals at the board. Thus the "Chairman of the Board". > > PS: We got to visit the Hathaway house when we were in England in 1990. > Heard most, but not all of this as a part of the tour. Really enjoyed > learning the origin of the words and phrases. Glad to get this recap. I > passed it on to a few others.