Rusty
Banned User - repetitive flaming
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2006
- Location
- Manchester UK
Here is an email I received off a friend and thought I would share with the forum.
It's a good read and shows how spoilt we have become and take things for granted.
> 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:
>
>
> 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 odour. 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 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
> 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 earth - usually hardened by
> traffic over years. Only the wealthy had
> something other than earth. 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 "the
> 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".
>
It's a good read and shows how spoilt we have become and take things for granted.
> 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:
>
>
> 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 odour. 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 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
> 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 earth - usually hardened by
> traffic over years. Only the wealthy had
> something other than earth. 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 "the
> 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".
>
