Life in the 1500's

LIFE IN THE 1500'S
 The next time you are washing your hands don't complain because  the
water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things
used tobe. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

 These are interesting...

 Most people got married in June because they took their yearlybath 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 ofthe
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.

 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 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
wasa 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."

 Thosewith 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
yearsorso, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom ofthe 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 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
digup 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 havescratch
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") tolisten 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 borin! !


 Educatesomeone...Share these facts with a friend
 

 Imagination is more important than knowledge...
                        Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)