Lets be thankful for what we've got?

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THE 1500'S


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 interesting 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.


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's how canopy beds came into existence. T he 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 coupl e of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait to 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

Lets be thankful for what we've got?
Thanks Elsie that was very interesting, I remember going over to Ireland to Granny's cottage, there were 3 rooms. The 1 in the middle was the living,dining room and kitchen and a bedroom each side which were called the upper room and the lower room, there was no electric as that didn't go in till the mid 70s so there was a few tilly lamps, there was flag stones on he floor and a big black range that was kept going by turf. The toilet was about 30ft away from the cottage and that was a piece of wood with a hole in and a bucket underneath it. The well was about 50yards away and turns were taken to fetch the water. You took the warm water to the bedroom and had a strip wash. I loved those holidays they were the best ones ever the freedom was great and running around the fields with not a care in the world. Yes life is so much better now, but God I was very lucky having holidays like that in fact I'd do it again but just for a holiday, I'm of an age now I like my home comforts.
Reply:its so true we have so much to be thankful for these days


thanks for the insight into days gone past
Reply:http://ask.yahoo.com/20030407.html





offers several alternatives re "raining cats and dogs".
Reply:Searched for an actual question and found one at the end: "Whoever said that history was boring?"


Can't find anyone having said that. The nearest is the famous one by Henry Ford: "History is bunk".





(Seriously though, a fascinating read.)
Reply:wow that was something, I didn't want it to finish, great knowledge, how did you find this , is there any book or something I could buy? even my daughter kept saying oh my god and laughs ...thank you for teaching us something useful,


:-)





FAT if you have something nice to say, say it or we don't really need your opinion, are you jealous or something ? go find something useful to do dear.
Reply:Oh elsie, you are so right! Thank God for today!





Poor babies! God knows what they had to drink and out of what???





That is very clever and I hope you don't mind if I copy and paste it, to share with those who will appreciate it! It is hilarious in a 'scary' way! Great post and thanks for sharing it... Glad I wasn't born then! LOL! ;-)
Reply:Glad the Barnett clan didn't get to England until 1601!
Reply:Sweetie, I think what you need is a warm bath and aroma theropy!
Reply:Woah! I feel very educated now, more than i ever learnt in history lessons in school, lol x
Reply:I have a question:


"how the hell did the human race survive?"
Reply:How amazing ,now I know where all those sayings come from,just hope I can remember them,thank you Elsie you are a star. x
Reply:wow that's long for this time of night, i will have to read the rest tomorrow. maybe i can help then
Reply:I'm getting to these late!! pmsl yet again!!! love it!!! I wish history lessons had been this much fun at school... I would of been great at it!!! cheers hun xxx
Reply:Have you nothing better to do?


Who cares about the 16th century?


Are you sure your facts are correct? (I'm not)


To 2 - D : this is not a "long read"; it's just a few paragraphs..


Try reading a 1000 page novel-that's a long read. (you'll probably find it more interesting)



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