> The way it used to be? > > > >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. > > > >Baths were taken in 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, rats, and 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 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 all started slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the > >entry way -- hence, a "thresh hold," > > > >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 a 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. > > > >Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of > >wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made > from > >stale paysan bread which was so old and hard that they could use them for > >quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of > >times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off > >wormy, moldy trenchers, one 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 "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 out 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, 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 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." > > > >Yes.... the good old days! > >