Enigma
09-14-2005, 11:01 PM
Here's an e-mail I received today. I can't/won't vouch for any of it, but it is kind of amusing:
> These are interesting.
>
> 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 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 t
> o 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 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 that History was boring ! ! !
>
> Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend.
>
> These are interesting.
>
> 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 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 t
> o 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 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 that History was boring ! ! !
>
> Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend.
>