Living in the 1500's

SOME INTERESTING FACTS
The next time you're 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,
which 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 "threshold."

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 the 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 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 ! ! Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend


PHEW GLAD I WASN'T AROUND IN THE 1500'S