Post by mrbeefy on Oct 29, 2009 6:48:14 GMT -5
I thought some of these were unique....enjoy!
> > HISTORY
> > FACTS
> >
> > 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 they
> > still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were
> > starting to smell .
> > .. . 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
> > 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 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
> > entrance-way. Hence: 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 whiskey. 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 History was boring
> > HISTORY
> > FACTS
> >
> > 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 they
> > still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were
> > starting to smell .
> > .. . 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
> > 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 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
> > entrance-way. Hence: 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 whiskey. 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 History was boring
