This was sent to me by a cousin--glad I did not live back then!!!Do not know where he got the "facts". Christine > > 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 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, 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 would > all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entry way > hence, a "threshold," > > 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 into 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 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 running out of places to bury > people. So they would dig up coffins and 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, so they realized that 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."