Joke,though long one?

Subject: Fw: History Lesson!!!





%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;According to The History Channel, during the Victorian age, people


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;would only change a baby's diaper every four days. Whew whee!


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how


things


%26gt; used to be.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Here are some facts about the 1500s: These are interesting. ..


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Most people got married in June because they took their yearly


bath in


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;beginning to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to


hide the


%26gt; body odor.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the


other


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of


all the


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose


someone


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;in it Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath


%26gt; water."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Houses had thatched roofs--thick straw-piled high, with no wood


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all


the


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When


it


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would fall


off the


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts


and a


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how


canopy


%26gt; beds came into existence.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than


dirt.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had the slate floors


that


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;would get slippery. They put threshing on the floor to help keep


their


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when


you


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of


wood


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle


that


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in


the pot


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes


a


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;stew had the food in it that had been there for quite a while.


Hence


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge


in


%26gt; the pot nine days old."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite


special.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show


off..


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;around and "chew the fat."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing


lead


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for


about


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;the next 400 years, tomatoes were considered poisonous.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt


bottom of


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or


%26gt; "upper-crust. "


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone


walking


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for


burial.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and


the


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;family would gather around and eat and drink and wait to see if


they


%26gt; woke up.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Hence the custom of holding a "wake."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;England is old and small and the local folks started running out


of


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would


take the


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;bones to a "bone - house" and reuse the grave. When reopening


these


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;coffins, about 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch


marks on


%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.


So


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it


through


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Someone would sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by


the


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;And that's the truth... Now , whoever said that History was


boring!


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Educate someone... Share these facts with a friend.


%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;

Joke,though long one?
Ok....... Here is the thing.... I loved the info! Great find. Although you might want to find a better catagory for it. Just a thought...
Reply:lol..i never knew!
Reply:ugh.........too long to read.......i give up!!...you could write a book with those sentences.......~cute~
Reply:wow i can't beilve you type that all out... anyway


it was cute thanks
Reply:i am totally fwding this to my friends!
Reply:GREAT!!!! Though it took me a while(or more than that!)but it was worth. GREEEATTTT!!!!!!!! Send some more- nice way of edu. I will send this to all my friends.
Reply:cool its fun to know where some of todays sayings come from......NICE
Reply:Wow, that was long. Some interesting facts.
Reply:That's just as interesting as the tale of Butch O'Hare and Easy Eddie. Look it up, you'd like it.
Reply:You could have just added the link. Besides I know all these already
Reply:THAT WAS GREAT THANK YOU ...IF YOU FIND ANY MORE PLEASE GIVE THEN TO US....
Reply:long but interesting. If you find any more, I would like to read them:)
Reply:That WAS long, but I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you.
Reply:ok i dont understand the point but u get a 10.9 for making me learn more
Reply:really good info



nanny