TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Thinking Aloud
Thinking Aloud
History? Boring? Nah
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

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:

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 m an 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 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 porridg 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..

And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

Educate someone. Share these facts with a friend (I just did! --sandy)

April 30, 2008 | 11:08 PM Comments  1 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


Comments

faywang Wambui
July 15, 2008 | 7:55 AM

hey...your blogs make for great reading...this was interesting, it had me laughing.keep writing and we'll keep reading.
Sandy Mae's Profile

Sandy Mae's Friends


Latest Posts
Something to think about
Discipline
Special
Confidence
History? Boring? Nah

Monthly Archive
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
November 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
July 2008
October 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
allergies biasforaction boracay bosanchez chicken cs197 discipline earnonline jimlafferty leadership moneyonline

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics

Friends
. .
George
- Chando -
-franz-
22miguel38
A Better Community for All (ABC4All)
A. Kent Bridgewater II
Abel Canchari
abubakar ally rehani
Adam MacIsaac
Adel
Adolfo BESERRA rocha
Agent of Change International
alfred dickson
alicia harkin
Allan Cox
AmbassadorBill
Amita
Amougou befolo eric vincent de paul
Andrea Arzaba
ARF-N
asadali
Askia
Ateku Dickens Alubaka
avsin
Awa Innocent Ndah
Awais Aftab
AWellEarth.net
Babacar GUEYE
Baizid Hossain
Belal jahjooh
bendrix
bk
Brian V Gonzales
caloy
CAM
Carl Quinto
cedrino
Charles Candelario
charles liwimbi
Charter For Change
cherry
Chinwe
Chris Eng
Chris Spavin
Christian Jesus Wilter
Christopher De la Cruz
code
Damian Profeta
Danish Khan (webmaster@mdanishkhan.tk)
Danish Khan (webmaster@mdanishkhan.tk)
David
David Gibson
deep breath
Dereje Amera
dip
Director-LYWCIL
EducationUSA
ekpemo chikezie
elegbede
Elvis O. Aigbogun
Eng a shorman
Engr. Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba
Eppie
Eric Nicolas Schneider
Erick Ochieng Otieno
Erik Styffe
ERNEST
Ernesto B. Rojo Jr.
Esperanza Garcia
Eta Eta Uso
Fatima-Zahra
Francisco Pereira
G. Moheyuddin
Gaby
Gaston
GEH MARTINS
Genevieve Whitaker
GIDEON GYAMPOH
Gina
Glenn Standish
Grag Fox
GSimon
Harold Aquino
hayadin
hazem al jaber
heba
hekatea
Hicham BARAKA
hluli
hosh
Hugh Switzer
I AM WHAT I THINK I AM
Iman Ng
Irena
ISAN
J R
Jay Presaldo
Jay-R Patron
jean celeste paredes
johnny
Jonas Eriksson
jOrOss
José Luis Ortega
jose ohis. izeg
JP L:agumbay
Justin Markussen-Brown
K Quresh Lawyer
KAMAL
Kamal Prajapati
kangwa
Kaysi
Klenn
KOBA Marcellin
Krystle Corpuz
Kyna Mori C. Flores
Lewis Best
LoLoOoOoO_2007
Loy
Luc-Alexandre Faucher
luzviminda yu
Madelaine Hamilton
Malcolm Lawrence
Manny Maurice
Marc Ludwig
MARCKENSON
Marco Antonio M. Amurao
Marissa Benigno
mary ann c
Mian A Amin
Michael Furdyk
Mike Ong
Mir Habibullah Akhgar
Mir Habibullah Akhgar
Mir Habibullah Akhgar
Mohamed Barrie
mohamed elkashash
Mohd bin Ismail
mumuni iddrisu
Muneer Memon
Muztar
Nathaniel Cyrus Yue-Kiu Chan
Nkubizi Clement Papy
nockia
Noor.D
Nuhman Aljani
nwoke roy
Ocean
olorunnisola shadrach oluseyi
Olumide
Owais
Owulezi
P C Montecino
PEACE-SEEKER
Peter Koll
phelgona atieno jacks
Precious In God's eyes
Pres. Ringo
Prince Onuoha c
Rade Glomazic
Rafiqul Islam Azad
Raheema
Raul Henriquez
Rebecca Lohman
Reigna Jewel Ritz
Remisson Aniceto
Reuben shaibu
richmashmalan
Robert Margolis
Ronaldo
Ronnie Mubiru
Rotaract Club of Manila Metro
Sabs
Sagar Ghimire
sahr yillia
Saindique
sallaD
SAL~the~MAN
Sam
SAMAR
Sanmi
sarah
Schrodinger
Semakula Saidi
Serge Mario
SHAFI
Shahnawaz شاهنواز
sharilee
siddiqua
Simeon Pessima
SIMON BINENE
Sipho Fernando Dludlu
smartkero
Sofia
Sofya ♥
Sohel Khan
ST
Stephen
Sudip Aryal
SUGNANARAO.VELPULA
Swapnil
sweetiepiecutie
Teng Catong
Timothy Ogene
Tj Pendergast
Tochukwu Mclouis
TOPH
Torsten
ugain hamed
VICTORY ASHAMOLE C
Wale
waleed
Wambui
wangzhaoqiang
Will
yamil
yasin m. billy
Yuel Bhatti
Zainul Abedin
zanitos
zidanye
ZOH Gonshay Didier
Zorica Vukovic
~ mostafa ~
¥ªsï® ßûTT
محمد
๑۩۞۩๑ brightEYES™๑۩۞۩๑

Links
UP Assoc. of Civil Engg...
US Environmental Protection...


32376 views
Important Disclaimer