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Did You Know?
The next time you're 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 1500's:
- 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 dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, 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, which 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 slipper in the winter when wet, so they spread
thresh (straw) 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 entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
- 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 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 mad 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 and 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 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."
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