Interesting history

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If anyone thinks history is boring, they won't after reading these.>>__________________________________> >> > Interesting!> >> >The 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> >> >These are interesting...> >> >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 cats and other> >small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained, it became> >slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and 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 mess up> >your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over >the> >top afforded some protection. That is 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 floor >to> >help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added 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 "thresh> >hold."> >> >(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)> >> >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 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> >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 the imbibers 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 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".> >> >And that's the truth.. Now, whoever said that History was boring ! ! !> >> >Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend