[GeoStL] History

-
  I thought this was worth passing on. Now, the last time I passed something
on I was pretty sorry for doing so, but this one surely won't get me into
trouble.  Bernie



  Subject: History

  A must read..

  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 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 dogs, 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 really 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 the floor to help keep
  their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding 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."
  * * * * * *
  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 and 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 them 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 thought 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 ! ! ! ! !





 ****************************************************************************
 Our WebPage!  Http://WWW.GeoStL.com  
 Mail List Info. http://www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/list?list_id=geocaching
 Mail List FAQ's: http://www.freelists.org/help/questions.html 
 ****************************************************************************
To unsubscribe from this list:
 send an email to geocaching-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the 
Subject field

Other related posts: